Flipped from RepublicanCalledUnofficial resultsIncumbent defeated
California Senate District 36
California State Senate · California
Chris Duncan flipped the seat for Democrats, winning by 1.3 points over Tony Strickland.
Top-two primaryStaggered Senate
Chris DuncanDemocrat · winner
50.7%165,950
Tony StricklandRepublican · incumbent
49.3%161,558
327,508 votes
Source: California Secretary of State unofficial resultsUpdated Nov 7, 2026, 12:54 PM ET
Where the race moved
Against the 2024 presidential vote
The seat's recent races
Source: Past results: 99chambers results archive (MEDSL, Klarner, state election offices)
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
Chris DuncanTony Strickland
$1.4M
Raised by the campaign
$2.5M
$1.4M
Spent by the campaign
$2.4M
$146.4K
Cash on hand
$319.5K
Campaign money: California Secretary of State (Cal-Access), through Oct 17, 2026.
Source: California Secretary of State (Cal-Access) campaign filingsUpdated Oct 17, 2026
Pre-election forecast (final, Nov 3)
Our model's last run before Election Day, Nov 3, 2026. It no longer updates.
- Chris Duncan
- 41%
- Tony Strickland
- 59%
- Projected margin
- R+1.8