Paul Strickland

The California Teachers Association has endorsed Paul Strickland for Assembly, the candidate announced Sunday after the organization’s weekend endorsement meeting concluded in Los Angeles.

Strickland, a Republican and longtime Hart School District board member, is seeking the Assembly seat being vacated this fall by Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita. The other contenders are Republicans Scott Wilk and Patricia McKeon, both of the Santa Clarita Valley, and San Fernando Valley Democrat Edward Headington.

“I am truly honored at receiving this prestigious endorsement,” said Strickland, who added that he is California’s only non-incumbent Republican candidate for Assembly to receive the CTA’s support.

As a school board member, “Paul Strickland has kept his word to the voters, the teachers and classified employees, and to the community as a whole,” said Leslie Littman, president of the Hart District Teachers Association, a CTA unit. The organization has previously endorsed Strickland in school board races.

Headington, who operates a Granada Hills-based public relations firm, congratulated Strickland on the endorsement.

“Congratulations on the endorsement, Paul,” Headington wrote in a post  on SCVNews.com. “You just made the race a lot more interesting.”

Strickland, 70, has lived in the SCV for 28 years and has raised three children here with wife Robin.