Huntington Beach City Councilman Tony Strickland appeared Wednesday to be headed for a victory in the 36th Senate District special election without the need of a runoff with 51.1% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Results will be certified by March 6, according to the Secretary of State’s Office with Strickland needing a majority to avoid a runoff.
“While ballots will still be counted in the next days, Strickland is winning this race outright on these early results. He will be Orange County’s next state senator,” according to a statement from the Orange County Republican Party issued at 10:34 p.m. Tuesday.
“We will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the campaign to ensure every Republican voter in the district has their ballot counted and cure every ballot necessary to send Strickland to Sacramento now. With over 58% of the vote going to Republicans, Orange County voters sent a clear message to Gov. (Gavin) Newsom and the legislators in Sacramento that we want bold, conservative leadership on quality-of-life issues like crime, everyday costs and homelessness.
“Rather than passing foolish, performative legislation to `Trump-proof’ California, leaders need to re-allocate priorities and remove artificial barriers creating myriad problems affecting us today. Tony Strickland will join the growing number of Republicans elected to the state legislature to fight for real solutions now.”
Strickland said in his candidate’s statement that on the City Council he has “been fighting non-stop to protect our city from Governor Newsom’s disastrous policies.”
Strickland, who has been endorsed by the Orange County Republican Party, added, “we have to get serious about better protecting our border to stop the importing of dangerous drugs and foreign criminals.”
Strickland represented a district encompassing parts of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties in the state Senate from 2008-12.
Jimmy D. Pham, an attorney and businessman, was second with 27%, according to results released by the Orange County Registrar of Voters and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Fellow Democrat Julie Diep, a disability rights advocate and member of the Anaheim Elementary School District Board of Education, was third with 14.6%.
John Briscoe, a Republican who was a member of the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees for 16 years, was last in the field of four with 7.3% of the vote.
The district stretches from Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in southeastern Los Angeles County to San Clemente and also includes all or portions of Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Emerald Bay, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Midway, Stanton, Cypress, La Palma, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos.
The special election was necessitated by Janet Nguyen’s election to the Orange County Board of Supervisors in November.