online, or visit the secretary of state’s website, election results.sos.ca.gov, where results will be updated regularly until all ballots are counted.

County elections officials have until March 6 to finalize and certify the results. The Orange County Registrar of Voters will update results on weekdays at 5 p.m. until the results are certified next week. In Los Angeles County, updates will be released on Friday between 4-5 p.m., and on March 6 between noon and 1 p.m.

Strickland, a Huntington Beach councilmember and former mayor, is eyeing a return to the California Legislature where he has already served for a decade — first as an Assemblymember from 1998 to 2004, then as a state senator from 2008 to 2012 — representing parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Strickland has said he wants to be a counterweight to what he described as the “out-of-touch” policies of Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento. He identified inflation and rising energy costs as factors driving people to leave California for states with a lower cost of living.

In addition to Strickland, Democrats Jimmy Pham and Julie Diep and Republican John Briscoe are vying for the seat.

Pham, an attorney, serves on Westminster’s traffic commission and ran for the 70th Assembly District seat in 2024 but was defeated by Republican Assemblymember Tri Ta. He said he would push for laws that prevent big investors from buying too much property, helping to lower rents and make housing more affordable.

Diep, a speech-language pathologist, was elected to the Anaheim Elementary School District Board of Education in 2024. An idea she has to address affordability is to help mobile home park residents buy and manage their land to protect against rent increases.

Briscoe is a former trustee for the Ocean View School District. He has proposed ending efforts that prevent the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, which he believes will reduce housing demand and improve wages for legal residents.

The special election was triggered after former state Sen. Janet Nguyen vacated the seat to join the Orange County Board of Supervisors, replacing Andrew Do, who resigned last year after pleading guilty to federal bribery charges.

Nguyen endorsed Strickland to succeed her in the Senate.

The 36th Senate District stretches from Seal Beach to San Clemente along the Orange County coast to a small portion of Los Angeles County. It includes portions of Buena Park, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Stanton and Westminster in Orange County, as well as Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County.

Republicans make up the largest share of registered voters in the district, at 37.11%. Democrats follow with 33.93%, while 22.61% of voters are registered with no party preference.

Whoever is elected — either in Tuesday’s primary or the general election in April — will serve a term that runs through Dec. 7, 2026.

Voters in Kern and Tulare counties also headed to the polls on Tuesday for a special election to fill the 32nd Assembly District seat, previously held by Rep. Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield.