We remember a time when an open state Senate seat would draw top-caliber candidates, but apparently that’s not always the case. Consider the Feb. 25 special election to fill the 36th District Senate seat vacated by Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Garden Grove, after she was elected to serve on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Neither party has sent its “A” team, thus leaving voters with a dilemma.

The two Democratic candidates are Anaheim Elementary School District Trustee Julie Diep and chairman of the Westminster Traffic Commission Jimmy Pham. Neither of their current positions seem to be a natural stepping stone to the Legislature. In her interview with us, Diep sounded like a public-service announcement as she touted her commitment to diversity, sustainability and so forth. While touting her independence, she didn’t give any indication that she’d push back against her party on any major policy front.

Pham also was pleasant to interview, but he’s the mainstream Democratic choice — someone who will back the union-friendly, high-tax and regulatory policies we’ve come to expect from the majority party. For instance, in his Orange County Register questionnaire he promised to introduce legislation that would cap the number of institutional investors in rental properties.

The two Republican candidates are Huntington Beach City Councilmember Tony Strickland and former Ocean View School District trustee John Briscoe. The latter is a perennial losing candidate for the U.S. House. He has taken some distasteful positions — such as forcing cities to actively drug-test homeless people. That makes him a nonstarter, leaving the field to Strickland, who has previously served in the Legislature.

Strickland certainly has the skills and experience for the job. In our interview with him, he was knowledgeable, professional, gregarious. He correctly understands that California has too many taxes, too many regulations and needs to break the supermajority.

However, in his recent terms as Huntington Beach councilmember and mayor Strickland has specialized in high-profile MAGA issues rather than the nuts-and-bolts of governing. He was the ringleader for costly, misguided lawsuits against the state and a champion of NIMBY-style anti-housing efforts. He’s also overly friendly with public-sector unions.

There aren’t any obviously great choices here. But Democrats have a supermajority in the state Senate and Republicans need to boost their ranks. Strickland is a competent Republican who understands Sacramento isn’t working for California, so we give him our endorsement.