THE BUZZ: REPUBLICAN RESTOCK — Special elections taking place today are poised to send two California Republicans to the state Legislature: a practiced antagonist of Gov. Gavin Newsom from “Surf City” and an oil-backing businessman vying to succeed Rep. Vince Fong. Huntington Beach City Councilmember (and former mayor) Tony Strickland has built a platform in California Republican politics resisting state housing construction mandates, supporting efforts to recall Newsom and forwarding a city voter ID requirement that faces an ongoing legal challenge from state Democrats. Bakersfield businessman Stan Ellis, who is running for another seat, is more understated. He hasn’t served in elected office but for decades has worked as a seed investor and founder of agriculture and oil businesses — industries that drive much of Kern County’s economy and color its conservative politics. Both candidates are running against another Republican and two other candidates in their right-leaning districts. Each is favored and is aiming not just to win but to avoid a run-off general election by securing a majority of votes in today’s primary. “I'm very confident I'm going to be the next state senator,” Strickland told Playbook. “The only question is: Will I win on Tuesday with 50-percent-plus-one, or will I win in April?” Strickland has been a known quantity in Sacramento for decades. He served in the Assembly for six years at the turn of the millennium, then in the state Senate for four years during the Great Recession. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in his old haunt Ventura County before settling down in Huntington Beach, where he became the city’s lighting-rod leader. Strickland got the chance to return to the Capitol when state Sen. Janet Nguyen left her seat for the Orange County Board of Supervisors to replace Andrew Do, who pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges and resigned last year. Standing in his way is the more moderate John Briscoe, a longtime Ocean View School District board member who has unsuccessfully run for Congress against Rep. Robert Garcia and former Rep. Alan Lowenthal. Briscoe has dubbed himself the “education candidate” and said in an OC Register candidate questionnaire that he would “seek all possible education-related assignments based on my lifetime as an educator.” Strickland doesn’t seem to be paying his sole GOP opponent any mind. “I’m not running against any of these other candidates. I'm running against Gavin Newsom,” Strickland said. “I don't know much about my opponents. I don't even think about my opponents, because really, my opponent is Gavin Newsom.” Ellis has the support of Fong and the area’s state Sen. Shannon Grove, both of whom he knew prior to running. (A quick refresher: Fong vacated his Assembly seat to replace his old boss, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Fong entered the congressional race after he had already filed to run for reelection, causing his name to appear on the ballot in both races. He won both offices spurring the special election for his Assembly seat.) McCarthy has also endorsed Ellis, who is well-known in Bakersfield for his past ownership of the NBA D-League’s Bakersfield Jam and for founding a quantum computing lab and an oil vapor recovery business. He argues stridently that oil production should increase in California, a position that will put him ideologically at odds with most legislators. Yet, in an interview, he said he wants to work with Democrats and isn’t out to climb the political ladder. “I'm 72 years old. I could care less if my name is out there because I was on a bill,” Ellis told Playbook. “That is not why I'm going to Sacramento. I'm going to Sacramento simply to see if we can get some solutions and unify our state a little bit.” “I hope I'm not delusional,” he added. GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and bjones@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
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