Heath Flora

Heath Hubert Flora (born July 19, 1983) is an American politician in the California State Assembly. He represents the northern San Joaquin Valley, including the cities of Manteca and Lodi. Flora served as the Minority Leader of the California State Assembly from September 16, 2025 to August 3, 2026.

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.

On November 6, 2018, as an incumbent, Flora won the election and continued serving District 12. 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 pre-apprenticeship program and to reduce the impact of property taxes on new construction.

In 2020, Flora was reelected with 67% over Lathrop City Councilman Paul Akinjo.

In November 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Heath Flora travelled to Hawaii to attend a conference with 120 other people.

Following the 2022 sale of his Ripon home, Flora registered to vote at his parents’ property in Modesto. However, reports indicated the property, also registered to his family’s business, was occupied by relatives while Flora resided in Sacramento. Because his Modesto registration is over 50 miles from the Capitol, Flora was eligible for taxpayer-funded tax-free per diem stipends, receiving $42,416 in 2024.

In 2024, Flora spent $606,213 from his campaign account, a significant portion of which was used for meals in Sacramento and travel to Las Vegas. While labeled as "district meetings" in campaign finance filings, many of these expenditures occurred on weekends or during legislative recess at locations outside of Flora’s district.

In July 2025, the Assembly Republican caucus voted unanimously to make Flora the next Republican leader, succeeding term-limited minority leader James Gallagher when he resigns on September 16, 2025.

On August 3, 2026, Flora was ousted as the Republican leader of the California State Assembly

Personal life Flora has two children. In 2015, Flora and his family moved from Modesto to Ripon, California, where he no longer 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 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.