2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

California Senate District 36

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

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California uses a top-two primary: the two candidates with the most votes in the June 2 primary advanced, regardless of party, so both finalists can be from the same party.

California uses a top-two primary for congressional, statewide and legislative offices: the two candidates with the most primary votes advance regardless of party, so both general-election candidates can be from the same party. Write-in candidates for these offices can run only in the primary. California Secretary of State

Candidates

Chris Duncan

Democratic

Work: Attorney (tariffs, customs and homeland security law), Squire Patton Boggs; San Clemente City Council member/mayor

Ballot designation filed with the California Secretary of State: Anti-Tariff Attorney.

Chris Duncan is a customs and tariff attorney, of counsel at Squire Patton Boggs, and serves on the San Clemente City Council, including as mayor; his ballot designation is "Anti-Tariff Attorney." He was assistant chief counsel at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a senior attorney for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Sources for Duncan

Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)
Chris Duncan: candidate profile (BallotReady, Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))

Tony Strickland

RepublicanIncumbent

In office now: State Senator, District 36
Work: State Senator, 36th District; owner of a political and business consulting firm; former Huntington Beach mayor

Tony Strickland is the sitting State Senator for District 36 in the California State Legislature.

Tony Strickland has served in the California Senate since 2025. He was a state Assembly member (1998-2004), state senator for the 19th District (2008-2012), and a Huntington Beach City Council member (2022-2025), including as mayor (2022-2023), and has owned a political and business consulting firm and led the advocacy group Strong America.

Sources for Strickland

California State Legislature: current member roster (California State Legislature (California State Senate; California State Assembly), Public record)
Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)
Tony Strickland (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))

Sources

Candidate list and race details

Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)

What's included: U.S. Senate and House, statewide offices, every state legislative district on the ballot and statewide ballot measures.
Everything else: Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Candidate lists: As of Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.