Your guide to California’s Assembly 3rd District primary race
Three Northern California Republicans are running in a competitive race for an open assembly seat long held by Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-Yuba City.
The state’s term limits have opened a safely red statehouse seat for the first time since 2014. There are no Democrats in the race, meaning the winner of the June primary has a clear road to serving in Sacramento beginning next year. Gallagher, meanwhile, is running to replace the late U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who died suddenly earlier this year, as the representative of California’s First Congressional District.
Candidate websites, endorsements and campaign finance filings show Marysville city councilmember Dom Belza, former Chico mayor Andrew Coolidge and James Johansson, a former president of the California Farm Bureau who also lives in Chico, have all mounted serious campaigns. Each candidate is betting large sums of their own money, as well as raising war chests from funders, to pursue the rare open seat.
Where is the district?
The 3rd Assembly District begins in southern Placer County, and includes parts of Butte, Glenn, Sutter and Tehama counties, including Yuba City, Chico and Red Bluff. As of December 2025, the district held nearly 287,000 registered voters. Of those, a little more than 119,000 were registered Republicans and just under 85,000 were registered Democrats.
Who are the candidates?
Belza has racked up the endorsements of Gallagher and the rest of the Capitol’s Republican establishment, including all its representatives in the California Assembly and U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley.
Coolidge, however, believes his strong name recognition in Chico and Butte County, which hold large shares of the district’s voters, can carry him past his rivals — his campaign released a poll in January suggesting his opponents were too unknown in Butte County to overtake him.
Johansson, meanwhile, is running as the grassroots candidate with a record as a conservative farm advocate. His most principal endorsement comes from U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock.
The candidates all say they’re running to reign in the state’s cost of living, hire more police officers and bring conservative policy ideas to natural resource issues, like water storage and wildfire, that are important to Northern California.
Coolidge joined the Chico City Council in 2014 and served as mayor from 2020 to 2024, according to his campaign website. He grew up in the district and has a long history of involvement with local county fair boards. In 2017, his father died when the Cascade Fire in Yuba County burned the 78-year-old’s home. “This devastating event deeply shaped his commitment to wildfire prevention, fire defense, and recovery efforts in Northern California,” his website says.
Belza describes himself as a fourth-generation resident of Northern California on his website. He is the past founder of a political action committee called Free California that focused on illegal immigration and tax reform, among other issues. He served one term on the Marysville City Council, announcing in 2024 he would not seek reelection because he was eyeing state office.
“The single greatest threat to our local community is the out-of-touch Democrat super-majority in Sacramento,” Belza said at time, according to The Appeal Democrat. Last April, Belza visited the Capitol to testify in favor of a failed bill to regulate transgender youth in high school sports.
Johansson is a farmer with an olive oil brand and a tasting room, according to his website. He spent four years on the Oroville City Council, serving as vice mayor, and then began a stint in the California Farm Bureau that culminated with serving as its president for six years — from 2017 to 2023. The olive farmer takes a tough stance on immigration and public safety. “Victims come first,” his website says. “If we need more prisons, we’ll build them.”
Who is funding the race?
With his support from the Republican establishment, Belza is outstripping his opponents in funding, though all have healthy campaign finance accounts. Belza put $100,000 of his own money into the campaign in December 2024. He had raised more than $420,000 through the end of last year, and was going into the primary season with at least $328,000 in cash. His more sizable donations have come from county Republican parties, sitting Republican lawmakers and political action committees for law enforcement groups, industry groups and other special interests.
Johansson also put $100,000 into his race. He’s matched that with individual donations and some from farming businesses to reach a total of roughly $230,000, with $181,000 left to spend.
Coolidge put around $91,000 into his campaign war chest. Donations from individuals and some interest groups brought his account up to $335,000. He has around $245,000 to spend going into the heated final leg of the primary race.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
