# State Senator, District 36 Compare records and positions simply between Chris Duncan or Tony Strickland for State Senator, District 36 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-year term). - Jurisdiction: California Legislature - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-36 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Chris Duncan** — Anti-Tariff Attorney · Democratic - **Tony Strickland** — State Senator/Businessman · Republican · Incumbent Senator Tony Strickland took 53.4% of the June 2 vote and Democrat Chris Duncan took 46.6% — a 6.8-point gap and a narrow majority for a sitting member, making this one of the more competitive Senate contests on the ballot. The district covers coastal Orange County and part of northern San Diego County. The winner holds one of 40 State Senate seats for a four-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. Senate districts are twice the size of Assembly districts, terms run twice as long, and the Senate confirms the Governor's appointments. Which party wins here determines whether this district's member works inside the majority or the minority for four years. Both parties are contesting this seat: the incumbent carries $425,000 in direct party money, among the largest party investments on this ballot. His legislative record is the thinnest of any sitting Senator here — 13 bills authored, 1 signed into law. Weigh incumbency and resources against that output, and against a challenger who came within seven points. ## Tony Strickland Tony Strickland, a Republican, is the sitting Senator for the 36th District. Born at Fort Ord to an Army drill sergeant, he studied political science at Whittier College, where he also played basketball and was named a Nixon Scholar (official Senate biography). He was elected to the Assembly at 28 in 1998. There he served as vice chair of the Health and Governmental Organization committees. He moved to the State Senate in 2008, where he was vice chair of the Health and Environmental Quality committees. After leaving office under term limits, he became a visiting scholar at USC's Unruh School of Public Policy. He won a seat on the Huntington Beach City Council in 2022, then returned to the State Senate in 2025 (official Senate biography). Strickland says he is running to make California more affordable and to “stand up to Sacramento” after three decades of advocacy for state families (campaign site). In 2026 he authored SB 1133, the “Ready to Learn, Ready for Health Act.” It folds lessons on nutrition, sleep, physical activity, stress management and digital balance into California's existing health curriculum, rather than adding new mandated courses. The bill passed the Assembly with bipartisan support, and Governor Newsom signed it into law on August 28, 2026 (Senate press release). “This bill is very personal for me, as I lost a childhood friend too soon due to health choices made when younger,” Strickland said (Senate press release). He promises fiscal responsibility, letting taxpayers “retain their earnings,” government efficiency, public safety and election integrity (campaign site). He points to a lifetime “A” rating from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association as evidence of his record on taxes (official Senate biography). **Strengths:** A bipartisan student-health bill he authored was signed into law this session, and he brings three decades of experience in the Assembly, Senate and Huntington Beach City Council. **Trade-offs:** This is his only legislative win to reach the Governor's desk this session; his broader record is the thinnest of any sitting Senator on this ballot. **Keep in mind:** He rejoined the Senate after years in local office and academia, so this session's record reflects a fresh start, not his full career. ## Chris Duncan Chris Duncan, a Democrat, spent more than 16 years as a federal prosecutor at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Justice. Their campaign says they prosecuted "child predators, drug smugglers, and human traffickers with a 97% conviction rate" (campaign site). As Assistant Chief Counsel at CBP, they worked on trade-violation and corruption cases. They later became San Clemente's first Democratic mayor and serve on the Orange County Fire Authority board and the county's Assessment Appeals Board (campaign site). They hold law degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Hawaii and graduated with honors from Boston College. Duncan says their work as a prosecutor and mayor was about making communities "safer and more affordable," and that is the experience they want to bring to the Senate (campaign site). They have not served in the state Legislature. Their campaign frames their current work as an attorney penalizing foreign companies for trade violations as the basis for their campaign identity, "Anti-Tariff Attorney. Mayor. Prosecutor." (campaign site). Duncan promises to make California more affordable and cut bureaucratic red tape for families and small businesses (campaign site). They say they would reform a tax system they describe as burdening lower-income residents while allowing corporate tax evasion, and they list public safety, government accountability and protecting reproductive rights among their priorities (campaign site). **Strengths:** Sixteen years as a federal prosecutor with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Justice Department, and the first Democratic mayor in San Clemente's history. **Trade-offs:** Duncan has never served in the state Legislature, and beyond their own campaign's account there is little independent reporting yet on their time as mayor. **Keep in mind:** Their campaign highlights a 97 percent conviction rate as a prosecutor; that figure is their own account, not an independently audited statistic. ## Record in office Chris Duncan has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Tony Strickland (Republican) is the sitting State Senator for this district and is lead author of 13 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 1 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Strickland — SB 1133 (2026): Pupil instruction: preventative health instruction. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Chris Duncan** - Primary: $220,732 raised (Small donors: $5,897; Individuals: $61,260; PACs & committees: $132,021; Businesses & other orgs: $17,038) - November: $14,315 raised (Individuals: $2,515; PACs & committees: $11,800) - **Tony Strickland** - Primary: $1,721,509 raised (Small donors: $1,327; Individuals: $471,999; PACs & committees: $423,500; Party: $425,000; Businesses & other orgs: $391,569) - November: $115,350 raised (Individuals: $9,900; PACs & committees: $77,150; Businesses & other orgs: $28,300) Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-09-21. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - Chris Duncan for Senate, Chris Duncan for Senate, and Tony Strickland for Senate may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [California State Senate — Senator Tony Strickland: official biography](https://sr36.senate.ca.gov/about-tony) 4. [California State Senate — Senator Strickland's Landmark Student Health Bill Signed Into Law (SB 1133)](https://sr36.senate.ca.gov/content/senator-stricklands-landmark-student-health-bill-signed) 5. [California State Senate — Senator Strickland's Bill to Help Students Build Healthier Habits Heads to Governor for Signature (SB 1133)](https://sr36.senate.ca.gov/content/senator-stricklands-bill-help-students-build-healthier-habits-heads-governor-signature) 6. [Tony Strickland for Senate — campaign site (priorities, re-election messaging)](https://www.stricklandforsenate.com/) 7. [Chris Duncan for Senate — campaign site home (priorities, campaign identity)](https://www.votechrisduncan.com/) 8. [Chris Duncan for Senate — About page (biography, prosecutorial and mayoral background)](https://www.votechrisduncan.com/about) 9. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 10. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot State Senator, District 36 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "State Senator, District 36 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-36 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.