
By Hanna Kang | hkang@scng.com
UPDATED: January 3, 2025 at 8:08 PM PST
Four candidates will battle it out in February for the opportunity to replace Supervisor Janet Nguyen in the state legislature.
The 36th Senate district became vacant after Nguyen, a Republican, resigned to join the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing the First District.
The primary is scheduled for Feb. 25. Here’s the full list of those who are running, after candidate filing for the special election closed on Thursday, Jan. 2.
• John Briscoe, a Republican and former Ocean View School District trustee, previously served on the central committees of the Orange County and Los Angeles County Republican parties.
• Julie Diep, a Democrat, is a speech-language pathologist and disability rights advocate. She was elected to serve on the Anaheim Elementary School board in 2024.
• Jimmy Pham, a Democrat and attorney, serves on Westminster’s traffic commission. He ran for the 70th Assembly District seat in 2024 but was defeated by Republican Assemblymember Tri Ta.
• Tony Strickland, a Republican and Huntington Beach council member, previously spent a decade in the California Legislature where he represented parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
SD-36 stretches from Seal Beach down to San Clemente, jutting inland to include portions of Buena Park, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Stanton and Westminster in Orange County. The district also includes Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County.
Republicans have the largest share of registered voters in the district, making up 37.11% of the electorate. Democrats follow with 33.93%, while 22.61% are registered with no party preference.
The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to the general election on April 29 unless one candidate receives 50% plus one vote in the special primary election. If that happens, the general election would be eliminated, per the state’s election code.
Originally Published: January 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM PST
Correction: Four candidates qualified for the ballot for the special election: John Briscoe, Julie Diep, Jimmy Pham and Tony Strickland.
The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, would advance to the general election, scheduled for April, unless a candidate wins outright with 50% plus one vote in the primary.
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