Tony Strickland

Strickland was born at Fort Ord, California, when his father, Don, was stationed there as a soldier in the United States Army. Don Strickland met his wife, Antonie, when he was stationed in Germany. Don and Antonie Strickland moved to Ventura County with their son Tony in 1973. Strickland earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science at Whittier College, where he earned the Leadership and Service Award and was a Nixon Scholar.

From 1996 to 1997, Strickland served on the staff of then-Assemblyman Tom McClintock (now a Congressman).

In 2006 Strickland ran for State Controller. He won 41% of the vote in a four-way primary, besting State Senator Abel Maldonado, his nearest opponent, who received 37.0% of the vote.[4] Strickland was defeated by John Chiang in the general election by a 50.7%-40.2% margin.[5]

In the June 2010 primary, Strickland won 60% of the vote to gain the Republican nomination for State Controller, setting up a rematch of the 2006 Controller election between Strickland and Chiang, who was unopposed in his bid for the Democratic nomination for re-election as State Controller.[9] In the general election, Strickland lost again to Chiang, this time by a wider margin: Chiang received 55% of the vote, while Strickland received 36%.

In January 2012, Strickland announced his candidacy in the newly redrawn California's 26th congressional district, based in Ventura County.[10] Strickland was defeated by Democrat Julia Brownley on November 6, 2012.[11]

Congressman Howard "Buck" McKeon, who represented California's 25th congressional district since 1993, retired and endorsed Strickland.[12][13] He was also endorsed by former Republican candidate for president, Mitt Romney,[14] and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.[15] He ran against then California State Senator Steve Knight on November 4, 2014 and was defeated. California's 25th congressional district covers northern parts of Los Angeles County and parts of Ventura County. It includes the cities of Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Palmdale, Lancaster, and the northern part of the San Fernando Valley.

In 1998, Strickland distributed flyers in his campaign for the California Assembly claiming Camarillo Mayor Charlotte Craven endorsed him. However, Strickland was not endorsed by Craven and the mayor requested that Strickland remove her name from the flyer. Craven's name appearing on the flyer was one of only two elected officials in the district that had "endorsed" Strickland. With Craven's name removed, only one elected official, Mike Markey, had endorsed Strickland.[16]

In 1998, the Strickland campaign had a complaint filed against it alleging that a mailer sent out by an independent group attacking Strickland's opponent coordinated with the campaign. The complaint was made by the President of the West Valley Republican Club, Michael Chulak. He claimed that the mailer was illegal because it was sent out "at the behest" of the Strickland campaign.[17] The mailer was sent out by a Sacramento-based gun owner's group on Strickland's behalf.[18]

In December 1999, Tony Strickland was sued by the secretary of state over failure to report $116,140 in late contributions, a violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974. It resulted in a fine of $6,000.[19]

In April 2010 the California Fair Political Practices Commission decided that Tony Strickland and Strickland for State Senate, a member of the California State Senate, and his candidate-controlled committee sent out a mass mailing without the name of the committee on the outside of the mailing. The Commission levied a $3,000 fine.[20]

Strickland married his wife, future Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, on October 12, 1997. They have one daughter, Ruby Ruth, and one son, Anthony Paul.

• Official campaign website
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission