Republican Tony Strickland Wins Senate Race

Huntington Beach City Councilman Tony Strickland (R) declared victory in the Senate 36th District special election on Monday, managing to avoid a run-off election next month by garnering just over 51% of all votes.

According to vote totals on Monday, Strickland is currently leading with 80,804 votes, or 51.3% of the vote, with 98% of the votes in. Attorney and 2024 Assembly candidate Jimmy Pham (D) is a distant second with 43,618, or 27.7% of the vote. The other two candidates also have significant percentages of the vote, with Disability rights advocate Julie Diep (D) at 14.3% and broker and 2024 Congressional candidate John Briscoe (R) at 6.7%.

While votes are still being tallied, with a total vote total to be in by Thursday, the lead on Monday was seen as insurmountable by Strickland. As legislative candidates in California need 51% of the vote in a primary to avoid a run-off, Strickland declared victory on Monday, adding that he will step down from his Huntington Beach Council seat next week in preparation to go to Sacramento to serve out the remainder of Nguyen’s term.

“Today, I am announcing we won our election to state senate,” said Strickland at a press conference on Monday. “I will push to get back to the basics of government. We’re going to do everything we can to make crime illegal again. California doesn’t have a revenue problem. California has a spending problem. We will do whatever we can to DOGE government. Today’s the day we take our state back and today’s the first step into making California golden again.

“Voters have spoken. We are going to bring surf city common sense to Sacramento. We will go back to the basics of the government. Public Safety first, letting the Californian people keep more of their hard earned money and root out wasteful spending. On day one I’ll fight to lower your gas tax. People shouldn’t have to pick between a gallon of gas and a gallon of milk.”

Strickland was congratulated by many for winning the election after his announcement on Monday, including Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego).

“Congratulations to Senator-elect Tony Strickland on his victory in Senate District 36,” noted Leader Jones. “As Californians reject our state’s current failed Democrat leadership, they are shifting right. Senate Republicans are thrilled to welcome Tony to our caucus as our numbers continue to grow—rising from eight to ten members in just one year. We are excited to have him join us in the fight to Fix California.”

Strickland wins

All three candidates in the race conceded to Strickland, including second-place finisher Pham. However, in his statement, he made confusing remarks, including how he would have been the better choice as he would have been part of the majority party and gotten more done as a result.

“I’m proud of our campaign. We did the best we could,” said Pham on Tuesday. “Ultimately, I’m looking forward to what Tony’s going to do to help us as a community. I want to see how effective he’ll be up there fighting for working families, people that want to put food on the table with rising grocery prices, rising gas prices. How effectively can he work across party lines?

“Is he going to achieve anything as one of 10 Republicans versus 30 Democrats in the state Senate? Voting another Republican in there, will they get anything done for this district? I still believe that if I was voted in, I would get more done because I’d be one of 31 Democrats. But unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’re going to get to a runoff election here.”

Strickland is now all set to return to Sacramento for yet another term in the legislature. Previously, Strickland served in the Assembly from 1998 to 2004 and the Senate from 2008 to 2012. Since 2022 he has served on the Huntington Beach City Council, and served as Mayor in 2023.

Strickland’s return also adds to the growing number of California Republican Party successes across the state in the past several months. In November, Republicans managed to flip Assembly seats for the first time in a Presidential election year since 1992 and in the Senate, the state saw the first presidential year Senate seat flip since 1980. They gained 3 seats in the legislature in November, and earlier this month, managed to keep an Assembly seat within the fold following Stan Ellis’ Assembly victory last week. Strickland’s victory keeps the Senate GOP total in the double digits and remains close to breaking up the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento.

“The GOP has to be feeling good in this state right now,” explained election advisor Sal Yount to the Globe on Monday. “They have a ways to go to get back to where they were back in the heyday. But Strickland’s win today not only proves that the GOP can gain seats, but they can retain the ones they had that were up for grabs.”