Tony Strickland has big lead in state Senate District 36 special election

Tony Strickland has leaped out to the lead in California’s state Senate District 36 special election held Tuesday.

Strickland, a Republican, had a lead over Democrats Jimmy Pham and Julie Diep, as well as fellow Republican John Briscoe, in the most recent results released Tuesday at 10 p.m.

Strickland, 54, a member of the Huntington Beach City Council who previously served in the state Senate from 2008 to 2012, had 66,548 votes — 51.1% of the total counted so far. That was followed by Pham with 35,199 votes (27%), Diep with 18,972 votes (14.6%) and Briscoe with 9,491 votes (7.3%).

If a candidate receives more than 50% of the overall vote, he or she would be voted in outright and avoid a runoff election scheduled for April 29.

The vote totals include both Orange County and Los Angeles County. District 36 includes most of coastal Orange County — including Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach — but also the Los Angeles County cities of Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens.

So far in Orange County, voter turnout was at 21.1%, with slightly more than 125,000 ballots counted among nearly 600,000 registered voters in the district.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters will update the county’s totals for the special election weekdays at 5 p.m. In Los Angeles County, the next update will be released on Friday afternoon.

The results will be certified by March 6.

In a statement Tuesday night, the Orange County Republican Party vowed to continue to work to ensure every Republican vote was counted in the days ahead.

“With over 58% of the vote going to Republicans, Orange County voters sent a clear message to Governor Newsom and the legislators in Sacramento that we want bold, conservative leadership on quality-of-life issues like crime, everyday costs and homelessness,” the statement read. “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.”

Jimmy Pham, an attorney, serves on Westminster’s traffic commission.

(Courtesy of Jimmy Pham for State Assembly)

Pham, an attorney who serves on Westminster’s traffic commission, ran for the state Assembly in District 70 last year but lost to Republican Tri Ta.

Diep is a speech-language pathologist who was elected to the Anaheim Elementary School District Board of Education in 2024. Briscoe is a former Ocean View School District trustee.

The state Senate District 36 seat became available when Janet Nguyen, a Republican, vacated her seat to serve on the Orange County Board of Supervisors after embattled former Supervisor Andrew Do resigned and pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge. Nguyen endorsed Strickland to secede her.

Strickland’s election to the state Senate would mean the Huntington Beach City Council would need a new council member. The last time there was a vacancy caused by Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz’s resignation in 2021, the council appointed Rhonda Bolton.