James Gallagher

James Gallagher is a Republican member of the California State Assembly representing the 3rd District, which spans the northern Sacramento Valley and includes all or parts of Butte, Glenn, Placer, Sutter, Tehama, and Yuba counties. ^[1,2,3] A fifth-generation farmer, attorney, and descendant of Irish immigrants who settled Northern California in the early 1800s, ^[2,4] Gallagher served as the Assembly Republican Leader from 2022 to 2025 ^[1,2] and has been one of the most consequential conservative voices in Sacramento over his more than eleven years in office. A champion of parental rights, taxpayer protection, wildfire recovery, and rural communities, ^[3,5,7] Gallagher has consistently fought to defend families from government overreach and to hold Sacramento accountable to the people it serves. His tireless advocacy for transparency in education, his landmark lawsuit challenging executive overreach during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his deep roots in faith, family, and farming make him a legislator whose values are firmly aligned with those the California Family Council holds dear. With an 87% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, Gallagher has been one of the Legislature's most consistent champions of the values the California Family Council defends — the sanctity of life (Chapter 6), parental authority in education (Chapter 8), religious liberty (Chapter 9), and limited, family-centered governance (Chapter 11).

Born on March 7, 1981, Gallagher grew up near his family's farm in Sutter County, where he remains a partner in the family's fifth-generation rice and walnut farming operation. ^[2,4] He and his wife Janna met in kindergarten while attending Browns School in Rio Oso, California, and together they are raising five children in the same community where both grew up. ^[2,4] His grandfather served four years on the Sutter County Board of Supervisors in the late 1980s. ^[2]

After graduating from East Nicolaus High School, Gallagher earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and completed an Assembly Fellowship in Sacramento, working for then-Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa. ^[1,2,4] He earned his law degree from UC Davis School of Law, graduating at the top of his class, then practiced with Rice Lawyers, Inc. in Yuba City, concentrating on agricultural business law. ^[1,2]

Gallagher's political career began with his election to the Sutter County Board of Supervisors in 2008. ^[1,2] In 2014, he won election to the State Assembly and has never lost an election -- winning all twelve primary and general election contests he has appeared in, never receiving less than 60 percent of the vote in a general election. ^[1,5,9] He served as Assembly Republican Leader from 2022 through 2025.

Their 88.0% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 104 scored floor votes demonstrates strong alignment with CFC's worldview framework, reflecting consistent support for the sanctity of human life, parental authority in education, and religious liberty protections.

As Republican Leader, Gallagher spearheaded the caucus's "Fix California" and "Restore California" legislative platforms, rallying Republicans around priorities including safer communities, lower costs for families, real homelessness solutions, and government accountability. ^[3,10] He has been a forceful advocate for reducing taxes and regulations that burden families and small businesses, and he filed an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court opposing Governor Newsom's effort to remove the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act from the November 2024 ballot. ^[8]