2 Wilk Managers Sign Up With McClintock

The two top campaign managers for former Assembly candidate Scott Wilk have signed up with Tom McClintock, a late arrival among Republican candidates in the 38th Assembly District race.

Tony Strickland is now manager and Tom Lee assistant manager of McClintock’s political campaign to return to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus.

McClintock, a former assemblyman from Thousand Oaks, has rented an apartment in Simi Valley so he can run for the open 38th District seat being vacated by Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills).

McClintock’s decision to enter the race prompted Wilk to drop out. Although Wilk did not endorse McClintock, he donated his political headquarters in Granada Hills and phone lines to the McClintock campaign, Strickland said.

The 38th District covers a sliver of Thousand Oaks, all of Simi Valley, Fillmore and western portions of the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.

Strickland, a former field representative to Boland, said he got his start in politics working for McClintock.

“If it wasn’t for Tom McClintock, I wouldn’t be in politics,” said Strickland, who has managed several campaigns. “When I was 12 years old, my dad helped out Tom McClintock in his first Assembly race.” That was in 1982.

Lee is a vice president of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee and president of the Ventura County Young Republicans. Last year he ran Mike Markey’s successful campaign for Thousand Oaks City Council.