HB councilman holds early lead in state Senate race

Jill Replogle covers public corruption, debates over our voting system, culture war battles — and more.

Published Feb 26, 2025 12:24 PM

A person's hand places a ballot in a box with a seal of the State of California on the front of it.

Republican Tony Strickland has a substantial lead in Tuesday’s election to fill a vacant state Senate seat. If he can maintain a lead of more than 50%, he’ll win the seat outright. Otherwise, he’s likely to face off against Democrat Jimmy Pham in April.

Who is Tony Strickland?

Strickland currently serves on the Huntington Beach City Council and he’s served previous terms in the state legislature.

About the vote count

It could take several days for this primary election to be called. As you watch these results keep in mind:

There are 637,782 registered voters in the 36th State Senate district.
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked by today and received by your county's registrar by March 4.
The primary election is scheduled to be certified no later than March 6.
If a candidate fails to win more than 50% of the vote in this primary, the top two vote-getters will face off in a general election set for April 29.
You can click here to track your ballot and make sure it gets counted in Orange County and click here to make sure it gets counted in L.A.

What’s the status of votes?

As of election night, Strickland had close to 52% of votes. His next closest challenger is Pham, with 27% of votes. There are still at least 16,000 votes left to count, with new ballots expected to trickle in by mail in the coming days.

Why this race matters

There are a lot of statewide problems to tackle — recovery from the recent wildfires and the threat of future wildfires, climate change, the high cost of housing and more. The California State Senate is one-half of our state Legislature. Along with the Assembly, it essentially serves as California’s Congress as state lawmakers draft and pass laws that govern the entire state.

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LAist asked all four candidates about their priorities, and you can read their answers here.

Map of the district

The 36th California Senate district stretches along the Orange County coast from Dana Point north to Seal Beach. It also encompasses the Little Saigon area of Orange County, including the cities of Westminster and Garden Grove, as well as the Los Angeles County cities of Cerritos, Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens.