Tony Strickland

Tony Strickland’s public life runs through Ventura County and Huntington Beach, with campaigns for state and federal office in between. He first entered the California Assembly in 1998, won a State Senate race by 900 votes a decade later, and returned to elected office with his election to the Huntington Beach City Council in 2022. He served a year as mayor, when his opposition to new housing brought him into conflict with the state of California. Along the way came unsuccessful campaigns for controller and Congress, as well as three campaign-finance penalties. He also owns a political and business consulting firm and leads Strong America, an advocacy group and super PAC.

HOME GROUND

Strickland was born at Fort Ord on February 17, 1970, while his father was serving in the United States Army. His family moved to Ventura County in 1973. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Whittier College, where he was a Nixon Scholar and received the Leadership and Service Award.

From 1996 to 1997, Strickland served on the staff of Assemblyman Tom McClintock. In 1998, Strickland won election to the California Assembly with 49% of the vote. He was re-elected with 51% in 2000 and 63.1% in 2002. Term limits kept him from seeking a fourth term in 2004; his then-wife, Audra Strickland, won the seat after him.

Strickland and Audra, who married in 1998, have one daughter and one son. They divorced in 2015. He married Carla Dispalatro Strickland in 2019. Strickland and his wife live in a four-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot Huntington Beach condominium that she purchased for $319,000 in 2000. He also owns a home in Moorpark.

THE LONG BALLOT

Strickland’s career has included repeated attempts to move from legislative office to statewide or federal office. He ran for state controller in 2006, taking 41% in a four-way primary before losing the general election to John Chiang. In 2008, he ran for the State Senate’s 19th District and defeated Hannah-Beth Jackson by 900 votes. In 2010, he again lost a controller race to Chiang, receiving 36%.

He announced a campaign for the 26th Congressional District in January 2012 and lost to Julia Brownley. In 2014, he ran in the 25th Congressional District with an endorsement from Congressman Howard McKeon, but was defeated by Steve Knight.

The career has also carried campaign-finance penalties. Strickland was fined $6,000 after the California secretary of state sued him in 1999 over $116,140 in late contributions. The Fair Political Practices Commission fined him $3,000 for campaign-mailing violations in 2010. In 2016, he agreed to a $40,000 fine to settle an FPPC investigation that determined he had laundered campaign donations. That year, he supported Donald Trump in the Republican primaries and served as a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention.

THE POLICY SIGNATURE

Strickland returned to elected office in November 2022 with a seat on the Huntington Beach City Council. He served as mayor from December 7, 2022, through December 6, 2023. Housing was the subject of conflicts during that term: he opposed increasing the housing supply, maintained a staunch opposition to affordable-housing mandates and became involved in legal conflicts with the state over housing issues.

His 2024 position on rent control also emphasized local authority. Strickland supported a ballot initiative that would allow California cities to impose rent control on new apartments. Taken together, the documented record on housing includes resistance to state affordable-housing mandates, opposition to added supply during his mayoral tenure and support for giving cities the authority to impose rent control on new construction.

Strickland’s recent documented housing positions opposed state-directed housing expansion and affordable-housing requirements. The record includes his municipal office, litigation between Huntington Beach and the state, and his support for a statewide ballot initiative that would place another housing decision in cities’ hands.