Working Together Brings Victory Within Reach for 4 Huntington Beach City Council Candidates

(L-R) Pat Burns, Casey McKeon, City Attorney Michael Gates, Gracey Van Der Mark, and Tony Strickland at a campaign rally at the Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2022. (Courtesy of Joe Katchka)

Conservative candidates running for four open seats on Huntington Beach’s City Council have been working as a team and are ahead in the vote count as of Nov. 11 at 5 p.m.

Pat Burns, a 29-year resident and retired police lieutenant, is in the lead with 13.64 percent of the vote out of 18 candidates in the at-large election.

Behind him is small business owner Tony Strickland, a former state assemblyman and state senator, with 13.5 percent.

Gracey Van Der Mark, a resident of 22 years and a business owner, is in third with 12.36 percent of the vote, followed by small business owner and resident of 44 years Casey McKeon’s 12.16 percent.

Teachers Gina Clayton-Tarvin holding at 7.89 percent and Jill Hardy with 7.44 percent round out the top six vote-getters to date.

“We’ve been told what we did united the city,” McKeon told The Epoch Times, saying the expected win probably wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t campaigned together. “We had hundreds of volunteers sacrificing to help us. I just want the residents to know how grateful we are for their support.”

McKeon and Van Der Mark met during unsuccessful city council campaigns in 2020.

City Councilman Erik Peterson recommended they meet with Burns, and another friend introduced them to Strickland, McKeon said.

“We met and talked, and it felt right. [Burns and Strickland] had similar solutions,” McKeon said. “We’ve become close like a family. We have different strengths and bring different things to the table.”

When asked if they had a difference of opinion on solving citywide issues, McKeon said, “Not really. We’ve never disagreed on anything, honestly.”

Van Der Mark expressed similar feelings.

“We’ve been campaigning for six months and still have an amazing relationship. Our main purpose is to put our city first,” she told The Epoch Times.

Burns said the group shared “the conservative attitude of small government and transparency and fiscal responsibility.”

“We worked hard and got along. It was the key to our success,” he told The Epoch Times.

Their joint campaign began in July, but they have had over 100 meet and greets since June with residents, business owners, and law enforcement to hear first-hand the issues the city is facing, according to the four candidates.

Last month, the group held a rally at the Huntington Beach Pier during which they hand-signed a contract, promising residents they would address four key issues in the city, if elected:

• Defend local control by authorizing the city attorney to fight state mandates, especially against high-density housing quotas
• Support law enforcement by helping police crack down on crime
• Implement a 90-day plan to address the city’s homelessness by getting homeless people off the streets
• Welcome new businesses to Huntington Beach

“It helped us tremendously because we put it in writing and fully committed to address these issues on day one,” Van Der Mark said.

City Attorney Michael Gates is also likely to win reelection, with 63.86 percent of votes against his opponent, former Assistant City Attorney Scott Field, who has 36.14 percent. Gates has long supported the four candidates in their races.

The next round of results is on Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. on the Orange County Registrar of Voters website.