Heath Flora (born July 19, 1983) is an American politician in the California State Assembly. He represents the northern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

, including the city of

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

Early life

On July 19, 1983, Flora was born in Stanislaus County, California.

Career

Flora served for over 15 years as a volunteer fire fighter. From 2005 to 2007, Flora was a firefighter with the California Department Forestry and Fire Protection. Flora is a businessman and owner of Golden Valley Equipment. In, 2016, Flora's political career began when he ran for the California State Assembly to succeed fellow Republican Kristen Olsen, who ran successfully for the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. In a surprise, he won the election and became a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of California State Assembly for

District 12 District 12 may refer to: *District 12 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam * Schwamendingen, Zürich, Switzerland, also known as District 12 * District 12, an electoral district of Malta *District 12 (Hunger Games), fictional district in the Hunger Games ...

, encompassing part of the

. Flora defeated Ken Vogel, a former

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County (; Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton. San ...

Supervisor, with 52.2% of the votes. On November 6, 2018, as an incumbent, Flora won the election and continued serving

. Flora defeated Robert D. Chase with 60% of the votes. In Flora's first term as a member of the Assembly, Flora authored seven bills that were ultimately signed into law, including bills to develop a firefighter preapprenticeship program and to reduce the impact of property taxes on new construction. In 2020, Flora was reelected with 67% over Lathrop

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

man Paul Akinjo. In November 2020, amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Heath Flora travelled to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

to attend a conference with 120 other people.

Electoral history

2016 California State Assembly

2018 California State Assembly

See

2018 California State Assembly election The 2018 California State Assembly election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, with the primary election being held on June 5, 2018. Voters in the California State Assembly districts, 80 districts of the California State Assembly elected the ...

2020 California State Assembly

See

2020 California State Assembly election The 2020 California State Assembly election was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, with the primary election being held on March 3, 2020. Voters in the 80 districts of the California State Assembly elected their representatives. The elections c ...

Personal life

Flora has two children. In 2015, Flora and his family moved from Modesto to

Ripon, California Ripon is a city located in San Joaquin County, California. The population was 14,297 at the 2010 census. Ripon was originally known as Stanislaus City, but was renamed for Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1876. History Ripon, on the site previously known as ...

, where he still lives. Flora’s wife, Melodie, filed for divorce in April 2022 in San Joaquin County Superior Court. In July 2022, a woman named Emily Hughes claimed that Flora had multiple extra-marital affairs, one of which was with her. Hughes' affair with Flora took place while Hughes worked as a lobbyist for the

California Medical Association The California Medical Association (CMA) is a professional organization based in California that advocates on behalf of nearly 50,000 physicians in legislative, legal, regulatory, economic, and social issues. The organization was founded in 1856 ...

and Flora was serving on the Assembly Health Committee which deals with issues of interest to the California Medical Association. In August 2022, Flora promised to issue a formal statement about the affair, but has yet to issue a statement as of a week after the promise.

References

External links

*
Campaign website

Heath Flora at ballotpedia.org

Heath Flora at lwv.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flora, Heath Republican Party members of the California State Assembly People from San Joaquin County, California Living people 21st-century American politicians 1983 births