Andre Bayek

announced that the election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa will happen on August 4th.

That's later than the June date many observers expected, which would have coincided with the state's already scheduled primary election.

And it leaves a currently safe Republican House seat vacant for at least the next six months.

LaMalfa was a 65-year-old rice farmer from Butte County, about 70 miles north of Sacramento.

He was closely aligned with President Donald Trump and died suddenly from an unspecified medical issue on January 6th.

The winner of the special election would serve just a few months before having to run in a newly redrawn congressional district.

For NPR News, I'm Andre Bayek in Chico, California.