Huntington Beach Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark announces state Assembly bid
Now, she will be running for a state position herself.
Van Der Mark has tossed her hat into the 2026 race for the state Assembly District 72 seat currently held by Diane Dixon. The district includes the Orange County cities of Aliso Viejo, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Lake Forest and Newport Beach.
Dixon, who like Van Der Mark is a Republican, is in her second term. She announced recently that next year she will be challenging incumbent Democrat Katrina Foley for her position as the Orange County Supervisor representing the 5th District, leaving the Assembly seat up for grabs.
Following unsuccessful bids for the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees in 2018 and the Huntington Beach City Council in 2020, Van Der Mark was elected in 2022 along with fellow Republicans Pat Burns (the current mayor), Mayor Pro Tem Casey McKeon and Tony Strickland. When fellow conservatives Chad Williams, Butch Twining and Don Kennedy also were elected last November, some started calling the council the 'MAGA-nificent Seven.'
Strickland left for higher office earlier this year, after having a successful run for the vacant state Senate District 36 seat. His seat on the council is now filled by celebrity chef Andrew Gruel.
'I've always said I will go wherever I'm needed,' Van Der Mark, who served as the city's first Latina mayor last year, said in an interview Monday. 'This is a situation where we need a strong conservative voice for the state Assembly. We'll be losing another Republican in Diane Dixon ... and I expect to continue that legacy. It's a risk, but it's worth it. As long as we're fighting to continue to make our state stronger, it's a risk worth taking.'
Van Der Mark added that she wants to bring common sense government back to Sacramento, citing often debated policies in Huntington Beach such as voter ID, displaying only government and military flags on government property and a Parents' Right to Know ordinance. Surf City voters approved the first two issues with Measures A and B last year, though state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has continued to fight the city's voter ID law in appellate court.
'I believe parents deserve more accountability in our kids' education, in their lives and decision-making,' Van Der Mark said. 'I'm definitely a strong believer in local control, and those are the things I would like to fight for up in Sacramento.'
She has also been front and center in the battle over the city's public library. Measure A, which would repeal a parent/guardian review board approved by Van Der Mark and her colleagues, is up for special election June 10 along with Measure B. The latter measure requires voter approval before outsourcing of library operations.
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He echoed the themes raised in the Senate Leadership Fund ad, which noted Cooper's vetoes in the Republican-led legislature of measures popular with conservatives, such as banning gender-affirming health care for minors and requiring county sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials. 'Roy Cooper may pretend to be different than the radical extremists,' Whatley said. 'But he is all-in on their agenda.' Cooper first won the governorship in 2016, while Trump was carrying the state in his first White House bid. Four years later, they both carried the state again. Cooper, who grew up in a small town 60 miles (96.6 kilometers) east of Raleigh, has long declined requests that he seek federal office. He 'understands rural North Carolina,' veteran North Carolina strategist Thomas Mills said. 'And while he's not going to win it, he knows how to talk to those folks.' As with most Democrats, Cooper's winning coalition includes the state's largest cities and suburbs. 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