Exclusive | Disgraced California lawmaker caught making NFL bets in emails with dive bar

Are you ready for some football? Odds are Heath Flora is.

The embattled California Republican legislator — who is the focus of two state ethics investigations and was recently ousted as GOP minority leader of the state Assembly — appears to have broken the law by participating in a high-dollar NFL survivor pool run through a Sacramento dive bar, according to interviews and records obtained by the California Post.

Emails show Flora was making NFL picks in 2021 from a personal email address but the messages included his title as a state Assemblymember, as well as his work address and phone numbers for his Capitol and district offices.

A former bartender and manager for bar Club 2 Me confirmed that Flora participated in an NFL survivor pool with a $50 buy-in and about 100 people in the pool.

An NFL survivor pool is a contest where players pick one team to win each week, can’t pick the same team twice, and are eliminated when their pick loses.

The bar manager told The Post that the total payout by the end of the season could climb as high as $5,000.

California law prohibits making or accepting wagers on the outcome of sporting events.

State law provides an exception for certain friendly betting pools, but caps the total value of prizes or winnings at $2,500.

Bryan Sullivan, a partner at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP, told The Post that California law clearly bars elected officials from betting in an official capacity.

“California law made it clear in 2021 — and it remains true today — that a legislator cannot use the prestige of their office to participate in private gambling activities,” Sullivan said in a statement. 

“Using an official title in an NFL survivor pool was improper then, and it is unequivocally improper now.”

The emails obtained by The Post show Flora’s involvement in the betting pool stretched at least several weeks. On Aug. 9, 2021, Flora emailed the Club 2 Me account asking to be included.

“JD told me to email you and make sure I’m on your list,” Flora wrote to the bar manager, referencing a well-known state lobbyist, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

The bar manager replied to Flora: “You’re officially on the list. Thank you.”

Flora then proceeded to place picks on the Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos in successive weeks, according to the emails.

On Sept. 23, 2021, the bar manager responded to Flora’s Broncos pick with the note: “Thank Heath. Selection confirmed. Good luck my friend.”

Although Flora sent the emails from his personal Gmail account, his messages carried a signature identifying him as “Assemblymember 12th district” and his official work contacts.

In 2022, state redistricting changed Flora’s central valley region to the 9th district, covering Amador, Calaveras, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

Flora did not respond to requests for comment, and his office ignored The Post’s questions about his NFL picks and use of his official title and government contact information in the emails.

The revelation adds to mounting scrutiny surrounding Flora, who is already the subject of two investigations by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

The Post previously revealed that one investigation stems from an October 2025 complaint involving behested payments, while another involves allegations that Flora misused campaign funds. 

Flora was ousted from his GOP leadership position a day after The Post published a story documenting the investigations and Flora’s excessive bar tabs, as well as Capitol sources expressing their displeasure with a controversial vote Flora took siding with Democrats to raise taxes in cities and counties across the state.

The Post also revealed allegations that Flora, a self-proclaimed devout Christian, carried on simultaneous extramarital affairs before getting divorced. 

In late 2025, a bombshell story by the Sacramento Bee documented Flora’s first affair with a former lobbyist and noted that he was living in a home outside of his district.

The report also found Flora had not been making child support payments until a court began garnishing his wages from the state Legislature.

Flora, who is currently seeking a final two-year term in the state Assembly, has been flagrant in his campaign spending, running up huge tabs at an East Sac dive bar and frequently expensing golf equipment, trips and tickets to sporting events.

Many of these charges were documented as meetings or fundraisers. 

A source previously told The Post that Flora’s campaign treasurer stepped down from overseeing his expenses in early 2024.

Club 2 Me is less than two blocks from Chargins, the bar where Flora has racked up roughly $16,000 in tabs since April 2025 while billing most of the charges to his campaign as meals for district meetings.

Neither of the bars is located in the district Flora represents.

“I don’t remember serving him that much,” the Club 2 Me bartender told The Post. “He was never a problematic drinker to me. But maybe he knew I wasn’t going to put up with any s—.”

Flora’s troubles follow a dismal showing in the June primary, when he received just 30.6% of the vote — the lowest level of support of any incumbent state legislator. 

As a Republican in a right-leaning district, Flora is still the favorite to advance in the November runoff, but none of the Republican parties in his district endorsed him for the primary election.

Flora’s participation in an NFL betting pool with Club 2 Me came as a shock to the bar’s current owner, Linda Feil, who took control of the bar in February.

“I had no idea,” Feil said. “I have not heard anything about it. I know one thing for certain — there is no gambling here under my watch.”

Regarding Flora, she added: “I don’t even know the man.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters