Five Democrats and two Republicans 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, scheduled for Feb. 25, will feature several familiar faces in local politics, including current and former council members. 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.
• Janet Keo Conklin, a Democrat, has been serving as a La Palma council member since she was elected in 2022.
• 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.
• Chris Duncan, a Democrat and former mayor of San Clemente, ran for the 74th Assembly District seat in 2024 and lost to Assemblymember Laurie Davies.
• Whitney Kane Gomez is a Democrat. No additional candidate information was readily available with Gomez’s filing.
• 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.
