Republican Tony Strickland declared victory in the Senate District 36 Special Election on Tuesday.
“We live in an oasis,” Strickland said at a press conference in Huntington Beach, where he serves as a city councilman. “People are leaving this state to go to the desert in Texas and Arizona. People are going to the cold in Idaho.”
“We have become an economic development agency for states like Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Today is the day we take our state back, and today is the first step in making California golden again.”
Unofficial results showed Strickland with 52 percent of the vote and Democratic candidate Jimmy D. Pham, an attorney, with 28 percent. Two other candidates combined for 20 percent. The district encompasses much of western Los Angeles County and coastal Orange County….