Central Valley lawmaker Heath Flora will take over as the new Republican leader in the California State Assembly starting in mid-September.
Flora, 42, is a lifelong farmer and former firefighter who lives in Ripon in San Joaquin County. He said his rural background informs how he approaches policy, especially when it comes to issues like wildfire prevention, affordability and representation.
Flora was unanimously selected by his Republican colleagues to replace outgoing leader James Gallagher of Chico. He spoke with CapRadio about his hope to foster more bipartisan cooperation and the need to bring greater political balance to the state Legislature.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
How did you get into politics?
Former Senator Anthony Cannella was a good friend of mine—he was a senator from Ceres here in the Central Valley—and I was just his friend. I was an ag guy, worked for the state for a number of years. My family was in ag manufacturing and farming. One day I was in Sacramento and he was just like, “Hey, you should think about running for office.” At the time, Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen was terming out, and I threw my name in the hat. There were four Republicans and two Democrats. I was the only knuckle-dragger without political experience—and here we are nine years later.
You’ve represented a district rooted in agriculture and small-town values. How have those local values shaped your approach to state leadership?
I think ag has been sort of neglected for a long time as far as having a voice up here. Obviously, our friends in the third house that represent the ag interests are doing a great job, but there's just not enough of them. There's not enough voices. One of my first relationships that I built was with former Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, who is a Democrat out of LA. She took the time to educate herself on ag issues. And I think as a Republican from the Central Valley, it is my job to help educate my Democratic colleagues who come from the more urban areas on what rural California looks like. If we're not willing to take time to educate them, then we can't really blame them if they don't vote with us or understand what we're saying.
You’re stepping into this leadership role with full support from your caucus. What does that unity mean to you?
It means everything to me. I was sort of caught off guard. James Gallagher, current leader, has done an amazing job in getting the caucus back on the right track. I was kind of hoping selfishly that he would just stick it out. But everybody has a time where they're just tired and it's time to you know go back with the family. When he called me the night before and said, ‘Hey are you ready?’ And then for it to happen the way that it did, it was super encouraging because you know we are a caucus of 19, now soon to be 20 hopefully. We have to stay united on these things, so this was just a good start.
Gallagher focused on issues like fentanyl, crime and affordability. Are those still top priorities for you? What will you emphasize?
Those are huge issues for us, as well as the state of California. I think the fentanyl thing is slowly being addressed. The crime issue we still need to do a lot of work on. Affordability has a ton of opportunities, and these are not necessarily Republican issues right now. The nice part about some of these problems is they're becoming so large. I don't mean that it's nice that they're becoming so large, but it's becoming very apparent in Democratic districts, as well, that we need to do something. So we're finally starting to get some buy-in from my colleagues that we can actually move the ball forward and in a bipartisan way.
You have a firefighting background. What do you hope to accomplish in that area as a leader?
When it comes to the fire service, my background was Cal Fire, so I’m very knowledgeable on wildland fire fighting. I think one of my biggest frustrations is just lack of vegetation management. We tend to prioritize suppression over prevention. The aerial firefighting equipment we have now are state of the art, second to none anywhere in the world, and that is something to be very proud of. I applaud the governor for putting those resources and the funding in place to get those things up and running in a world-class way. I do think it's time to pivot on the prevention side. And until we put some of our environmental justice community friends on quiet time and allow mechanical thinning, actually allow substantial controlled burns. Like that is really important. We have to start prioritizing that because there are three things that sustain fire. It's oxygen, fuel, and ignition. You take one of those things away, fire goes out. The only thing that we can really control is the vegetation management side, the fuel side of things. And that is where we need to send some priorities.
What’s your approach to working across the aisle? Are there issues where Democrats and Republicans can find common ground this session?
Rule No. 1 is don't be a jerk. It's not complicated. We are all human beings. We all have personalities. We all have places that we come from in life. And if you try to make an honest effort to meet people where they're at and don't be a jerk to them, more than likely you can get something done. There's a ton of different areas that we can find common ground on, including vegetation management, wildfire prevention, and affordability issues. You're already seeing that with some of the stuff that Assemblymember Buffy Wicks did on [California Environmental Quality Act] reform on infill housing projects. So I am encouraged by that. You know, we are not the federal government. California politicians typically work together very well, and that's something I'm very, very proud of.
What would success look like for you after your first year as caucus leader?
Just having a successful election cycle. For a long time, quite frankly, both Democrats and Republicans know the state of California needs more balance. And that is what we desperately are trying to bring to the state in a bipartisan way, but the state needs more balance for sure.
And by that, you mean more elected Republicans?
More elected Republicans, and even like my Democratic colleagues that get elected — more moderate Democrats. We just need people to work together. We need people that can actually meet people where each other's at. And yes, we certainly are going to be fighting hard to be in a respectful opposition party and elect more Republicans. But once that is said and done, then it's getting back to work for the people of California with my Democratic colleagues.
