‘I don’t like to limit me’: How North State Senator Megan Dahle continues to use her voice after a life-changing stroke 

“Speaking is hard, but I’m doing it,” Senator Megan Dahle said in August 2024, tearing up in a California Assembly floor speech while she was still an assemblymember. 

Since suffering a stroke in December 2023, Dahle has dealt with both aphasia and apraxia, neurological disorders that affect speech and language ability. While the disabilities impact communication, creating new challenges to verbal expression of ideas and insights, neither impacts intelligence. 

As a senator for California’s 1st Senate District, Dahle represents much of California’s North State, including Shasta County. 

Dahle, a small business owner and family farmer, began her political career in 2019 by running for assemblymember, a role her husband and former governor candidate Brian Dahle had occupied until he won a special election for a state senate seat. In an interview with Shasta Scout this month, Dahle recalled how her husband had suggested she run for his position, something she decided to do out of a love for policy.  

“My husband is fiery, and I’m not,” she said, noting that her husband is more comfortable with public performances and arguments. “I love policy, I don’t love politics.” 

After her husband left the assembly, Dahle won the 2019 special election with around 58% of the vote, and was reelected for the assembly seat twice, in 2020 and 2022. 

In contrast to her husband’s more public approach, Dahle described her own style of politics as heavily focused on one-on-one communication and building relationships. She was the third-quietest member of the state legislature during its 2023-2024 session, but had the highest bill success among Republicans. 

“People don’t know [how much occurs behind the scenes], some members and senators run around events or take pictures, and put it on Facebook every time, I’m not like that,” she said, noting that she had strong relationships with the speaker of the assembly as well as assemblymembers across the board. “I love one-on-one, sitting down, talking about it, and coming up with ideas.” 

Throughout her political career, Dahle has been known as an advocate for North State issues such as rural healthcare and education. As an assemblymember, she was appointed as chair of the California State Legislature Rural Caucus, and continues to refer to her guiding principle as “Raising Rural Voices.” 

Speaking to a reporter, Dahle recalled an instance in 2023 where she brought Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi from southern California to witness the devastation from the 2021 Dixie fire, as well as engage with local educators to discuss how state legislation impacts the North State. 

One of her proudest accomplishments as an assemblymember, she said, was AB 1402, a bill providing victims of child physical abuse or neglect with free access to sexual assault examinations. She also noted the $10 million in state funds she secured for the Tulelake Irrigation District, to combat drought. 

Her work was going smoothly, until the year before her second term as assemblymember expired, when Dahle faced an unthinkable medical emergency. 

“Three things happened. I had a heart failure, I had a pacemaker, and a stroke,” she recalled. 

In November 2023, Dahle said she felt so unwell that she told her sister she thought she was having a heart attack. She was taken to the emergency room, where she was initially told she had a pulmonary issue before being discharged for “allergies,” with an inhaler. 

A week later, Dahle’s son took her to the clinic to get more tests. As soon as the results returned, the doctor immediately directed her to be hospitalized at Shasta Regional Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with severe heart failure and the need for a pacemaker. 

“I was there for four days, and I was air lifted into UC Davis,” Dahle said, recalling a conversation the day after she was hospitalized. “I had a Zoom with my staff Saturday, and [said] I’m gonna have a heart ablation on Monday, I’m gonna be back. And my daughter has a concert for her choir, [which] will happen on Sunday.” 

Instead, at only 48 years old, Dahle experienced a stroke, caused by a blood clot that had developed due to her other medical issues.  

For over a year before her medical issues came to a head, Dahle had suffered an ongoing cough, at times struggling to breathe and feeling constantly fatigued. Family members, and Dahle herself, attributed the symptoms to being tired or lacking exercise. She found out later that her lungs had been filling with fluid because her heart hadn’t been pumping effectively. 

The incident forced Dahle to shift her priorities and focus on recovery. “I had to put my health first,” she said, tearing up. 

Dahle publicized her Dec. 2023 stroke in a statement to constituents the next month. She remained absent from the assembly until early June as she recovered and learned to navigate a new reality that included both medical and emotional complexities. 

“Before the stroke, I was funny, I was strong, I didn’t cry everyday,” Dahle said. “I cried every day for six months after the stroke.” 

The stroke left Dahle with paralysis in her right side, and she went through intensive physical rehabilitation to improve her strength. Dahle also worked with therapists to navigate conditions caused by her stroke including aphasia — which impairs the ability to speak, understand, read, and write language — and apraxia, where the brain struggles to plan and coordinate the muscles necessary for speech. 

But by early February, just two months after her stroke, Dahle said she was already working with her team to monitor state bills and discuss district issues. 

She noted that her work is largely sustained by a strong support system, including her family and friends, along with staff. During the interview, Dahle frequently joked with her press secretary, Bruce Ross, and her district coordinator, Alice Bennett. 

“My staff, [they are] awesome. You are awesome,” she said, smiling at Bennett. 

Dahle’s work with occupational and speech therapists to address aphasia and apraxia continues, and she still deals with some difficulty in using her right hand. But despite the medical challenges, continuing her political responsibilities was a natural decision for Dahle. 

“I don’t like fear. I don’t like to limit me,” Dahle said, “I have a temporary disability.” 

In the year immediately following her stroke, Dahle continued to push forward, launching a run  for the state senate, a decision she said was motivated by a desire to represent more people in a more civil environment. 

“The assembly is like teenagers, and adults are like the senate,” she joked. “The senate is calm, and you assess something, discuss something.”

Dahle won California’s district 1 senate seat with an overwhelming majority of 75.7%,  expanding her influence to a larger constituency of around one million across 14 counties. 

Dahle’s political style, she said, hasn’t changed. She continues to rely on relationships, as many trusted political collaborators, like Senator Tim Grayson and Senator Angelique Ashby, crossed over from the assembly to the senate alongside Dahle. 

She also focuses on district-focused work — it’s something she prefers over pushing forward bills, she said, as a Republican senator in a state where a Democratic governor holds ultimate veto power.

“I don’t like running bills, because the bills take time and energy,” she said, adding that it’s often wasted effort due to the political lean of the senate. “My staff worked hard to make my bill’s amendments…and the governor will veto it, so I don’t like spending our time doing that.” 

Instead, Dahle said she spends time on local issues that directly impact her district, often by helping constituents navigate the bureaucracy of state agencies. Dahle, alongside her staff, spends time writing letters, supporting grant and budget requests, and communicating directly with organizations, using her influence to make sure bureaucratic systems such as insurance claims and licenses are functioning. 

Most recently, Dahle has worked on supporting AB 2700, a bill seeking full financial compensation for victims of the 2018 Camp Fire, which was traced back to poor maintenance by PG&E, and killed 85 people in Butte County. 

Dahle was visibly emotional during the interview as she spoke about wildfire victims, noting that she has a responsibility to act on behalf of those in the rural North State, who are often underrepresented.

“We are forgotten,” Dahle said simply. 

At the same time, Dahle has also been a vocal advocate for stroke awareness, particularly for those struggling with aphasia and apraxia, along with women’s health issues. 

“I have a platform,” Dahle said, referring to her ability to maintain a public position in comparison to members of her aphasia support group, which she meets with every other week. “I can drive, I can work, but [many of them] can’t work, don’t drive. I’m blessed, really blessed.” 

In 2025, Dahle wrote and passed a bill declaring May as National Stroke Awareness Month, and gave a speech about raising awareness for stroke and recovery, as well as her experiences of living with aphasia and apraxia. Members of the aphasia support group were in attendance.

She also spoke at the Shasta Regional Medical Center’s ‘Go Redding’ luncheon in February, where she spoke about  women’s heart health for more than 15 minutes. 

“It was hard, but I did it,” Dahle said about the speech, noting that she dreams of going to conferences and speaking more about aphasia after her term in the senate ends. 

Given her own lifestyle and misdiagnoses before the stroke, she said she especially wants to encourage women, who often deal with a multitude of responsibilities, both professionally and in the household, to be sure to take care of themselves and prioritize their own health. 

She said her experiences have shifted her priorities, both in her personal life and in her politics. 

“Before the stroke, I was worried about the politicians and worried about my Republican colleagues and worried about caucus members,” she recalled. “After the stroke…after a life changing event, people don’t think about everyday [problems], you think about [the] future.” 

That refocus has helped her remain dedicated to what she feels is her greatest responsibility, representing her community. 

“I love people, I love talking with them, and laughing with them, and crying with them,” she said about the one million people she represents across California’s far north. “I think about every person.”

July 16, 2026 6:15 pm: We have updated the story to correct the name of the hospital where Dahle received emergency care.

Moe Shimizu is a student at Yale University. She’s reporting for Shasta Scout as a 2026 summer intern, with support from the Nonprofit Newsroom Internship Program — created by The Scripps Howard Fund and the Institute for Nonprofit News.

---

Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.