Orange County Board of Supervisors | |
|---|---|
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| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | 2 terms (8 years) |
| Leadership | |
Chair | |
Vice Chair | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 5 |
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Political groups | Officiallynonpartisan
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Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| Two-round system | |
Last election | November 5, 2024 |
Next election | November 3, 2026 |
TheOrange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body ofOrange County, California, along with being the executive of the county.
The board consists of five supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by the citizens of Orange County. The supervisors represent districts of approximately 600,000 people.
Supervisorial elections take place during the primary election, withrun-off elections (if necessary) in November. Supervisorial terms begin the first Monday after January 1 after the election. Vacancies on the board are filled viaspecial election since Orange County voters adopted a county charter in March 2002. Prior to the adoption of the charter, vacancies on the board were filled by appointment by thegovernor of California. The December 1996 appointment ofLaguna NiguelCity CouncilmanThomas W. Wilson by GovernorPete Wilson (no relation) was the last time that a gubernatorial appointment was used to fill a supervisorial vacancy (SupervisorMarian Bergeson had resigned to become the California Secretary for Education). The January 2003 special election of formerState AssemblymanBill Campbell was the first time that a special election was used to fill a supervisorial vacancy (SupervisorTodd Spitzer had resigned after he was elected to the State Assembly to replace theterm-limited Campbell).
The current members of theboard of supervisors are:
The board makes decisions relating to land use, public utilities, and transportation, both directly and indirectly through its power over budgets and appointments to boards, committees, and commissions. Services that are ultimately managed by the board include regional parks, water, sewers, animal control, buses, freeways, and commuter rail.
The First Supervisorial District consists of the cities ofGarden Grove,Santa Ana, andWestminster, the unincorporated community ofMidway City, and the northernmost three square miles of the city ofFountain Valley north of Warner Avenue, includingMile Square Regional Park.
The Second Supervisorial District consists of the cities ofCosta Mesa,Cypress,Huntington Beach,La Palma,Los Alamitos,Newport Beach,Seal Beach, andStanton, along with two-thirds of the city ofFountain Valley that are south of Warner Avenue and southwestern portions of the City ofBuena Park. It also includes theunincorporated area ofRossmoor.
The Third Supervisorial District consists of the cities ofOrange,Tustin,Villa Park, andYorba Linda, most of the City ofIrvine, as well as theAnaheim Hills area in the city ofAnaheim. It also includes theunincorporated areas ofEl Modena,MCAS El Toro,Modjeska Canyon,Olive,Orange Park Acres,Santiago Canyon,Silverado,Trabuco Canyon, andTustin Foothills.
The Fourth Supervisorial District consists of the cities ofBrea,Fullerton,La Habra,Placentia, the portions of the city ofAnaheim outside ofAnaheim Hills, and most ofBuena Park.
The Fifth Supervisorial District consists of the cities ofAliso Viejo,Dana Point,Laguna Beach,Laguna Hills,Laguna Niguel,Laguna Woods,Lake Forest,Mission Viejo,Rancho Santa Margarita,San Clemente, andSan Juan Capistrano, along with small southwestern portions of the City ofIrvine, as well as theunincorporated areas ofCoto de Caza,Ladera Ranch, andLas Flores.
The First Supervisorial District consisted of the cities ofSanta Ana andWestminster, as well as the eastern half of the city ofGarden Grove.
The Second Supervisorial District consisted of the cities ofCosta Mesa,Cypress,Fountain Valley,Huntington Beach,La Palma,Los Alamitos,Newport Beach,Seal Beach, andStanton, as well as the western half of the city ofGarden Grove. It also includes theunincorporated areas ofRossmoor,Sunset Beach, andSurfside.
The Third Supervisorial District consisted of the cities ofBrea,Irvine,Orange,Tustin,Villa Park, andYorba Linda, as well as theAnaheim Hills area in the city ofAnaheim. It also includes theunincorporated areas ofEl Modena,MCAS El Toro,Modjeska Canyon,Olive,Orange Park Acres,Santiago Canyon,Silverado,Trabuco Canyon, andTustin Foothills.
The Fourth Supervisorial District consisted of the cities ofBuena Park,Fullerton,La Habra,Placentia, as well as the portions of the city ofAnaheim outside ofAnaheim Hills.
The Fifth Supervisorial District consisted of the cities ofAliso Viejo,Dana Point,Laguna Beach,Laguna Hills,Laguna Niguel,Laguna Woods,Lake Forest,Mission Viejo,Rancho Santa Margarita,San Clemente,San Juan Capistrano, as well as theunincorporated areas ofCoto de Caza,Ladera Ranch, andLas Flores.
Since voters adopted Measure V, the creation of the county charter, in March 2002, vacancies on the Board of Supervisors have been filled by special election.
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The first special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on January 28, 2003. Third District SupervisorTodd Spitzer had resigned on November 19, 2002, in preparation for taking office as a member of theCalifornia State Assembly on December 2 to replace theterm-limitedBill Campbell. Campbell, in turn, easily won the special election to fill the remaining two years of Spitzer's term.
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Campbell | 26,206 | 74.6% |
| Jim Potts | 4,692 | 13.4% |
| Douglas Boeckler | 2,085 | 5.9% |
| William A. Wetzel | 1,548 | 4.4% |
| Robert Louis Douglas | 585 | 1.7% |
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The second special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on February 6, 2007. First District SupervisorLou Correa had resigned on December 4, 2006, when he took office as a member of theCalifornia State Senate to replace theterm-limitedJoe Dunn.
Garden GroveCity CouncilwomanJanet Nguyen won the special election to fill the remaining two years of the term by seven votes overGarden Grove Unified School DistrictBoardmember Trung Nguyen (no relation) after a protracted recount battle (ironically, Correa had defeatedAssemblywomanLynn Daucher for the Senate seat after a protracted recount battle, as well). Both Nguyens had unexpectedly finished ahead of thefront-runners, recently retiredState AssemblymanTom Umberg andSanta AnaCity Councilman Carlos Bustamante.
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Janet Nguyen | 10,919 | 24.1% |
| Trung Nguyen | 10,912 | 24.1% |
| Tom Umberg | 9,725 | 21.4% |
| Carlos Bustamante | 7,460 | 16.5% |
| Mark Rosen | 2,181 | 4.8% |
| Brett Elliott Franklin | 1,739 | 3.8% |
| Kermit Marsh | 1,335 | 2.9% |
| Larry Phan | 417 | 0.9% |
| Lupe Moreno | 383 | 0.8% |
| Benny Diaz | 273 | 0.6% |
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The third special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on June 8, 2010, and was consolidated with the regular primary election for the next term for the seat. Fourth District SupervisorChris Norby had resigned on January 29, 2010, when he took office as a member of theCalifornia State Assembly to replaceMike Duvall, who had resigned from the Assembly in the wake of a lobbyist sex scandal.
FullertonCity CouncilmanShawn Nelson won the seat by 12% overAnaheimCity CouncilmanHarry Sidhu. While Nelson won the special election to fill the remaining seven months of Norby's term, the special election was consolidated with the regular primary election, so Nelson and Sidhu advanced to a November run-off election to win the four-year term due to begin in January 2011. Nelson won the election for the 2011–2015 term by a 63%–37% margin, and would go on to hold the position until January 2019.
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Shawn Nelson | 18,739 | 30.4% |
| Harry Sidhu | 11,421 | 18.5% |
| Lorri Galloway | 10,035 | 16.3% |
| Art Brown | 9,986 | 16.2% |
| Rose Marie Espinoza | 7,616 | 12.3% |
| Richard Faher | 3,873 | 6.3% |
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The fourth special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on January 27, 2015. First District SupervisorJanet Nguyen had resigned on December 1, 2014, when she took office as a member of theCalifornia State Senate to replace theterm-limitedLou Correa. Ironically, Nguyen had been elected as First District Supervisor in a February 6, 2007, special election to replace Correa, who had resigned when he took office as a member of the California State Senate to replace the term-limitedJoe Dunn.
FormerGarden GroveCity CouncilmanAndrew Do, Nguyen's supervisorial Chief of Staff, won the special election to fill the remaining two years of the term by 43 votes over Correa.
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Do | 18,905 | 39.1% |
| Lou Correa | 18,862 | 39.0% |
| Chris Phan | 7,857 | 16.3% |
| Chuyen Van Nguyen | 1,879 | 3.9% |
| Lupe Morfin-Moreno | 834 | 1.7% |
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The fifth special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on March 12, 2019. Third District SupervisorTodd Spitzer had resigned on January 7, 2019, when he took office asDistrict Attorney of Orange County after defeating incumbentTony Rackauckas.
Irvine MayorDonald P. Wagner won the seat by 5% over former CongresswomanLoretta Sanchez.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
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| Donald P. Wagner | 30,240 | 42.0 | |
| Loretta Sanchez | 26,708 | 37.1 | |
| Kristine "Kris" Murray | 5,338 | 7.4 | |
| Larry Bales | 3,912 | 5.4 | |
| Deborah Pauly | 3,847 | 5.3 | |
| Kim-Thy "Katie" Hoang Bayliss | 1,366 | 1.9 | |
| Katherine Daigle | 597 | 0.8 | |
| Total votes | 72,008 | 100.0 | |
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The sixth special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on March 9, 2021. Second District SupervisorMichelle Steel had resigned on January 3, 2021, when she took office as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives after defeating incumbentHarley Rouda.
Costa Mesa MayorKatrina Foley won the seat by 12% over former State SenatorJohn Moorlach.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
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| Katrina Foley | 48,346 | 43.8 | |
| John Moorlach | 34,747 | 31.5 | |
| Kevin Muldoon | 12,773 | 11.6 | |
| Michael Vo | 9,886 | 9.0 | |
| Janet Rappaport | 4,695 | 4.3 | |
| Total votes | 110,447 | 100.0 | |
Following are the special districts managed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Harriett Wieder became the first woman to serve as Vice Chair in 1980 and as Chair in 1984.Patricia C. Bates andJanet Nguyen became the first pair of women to serve as Chair and Vice Chair concurrently in 2009.
Gaddi Vasquez became the firstLatino to serve as Vice Chair in 1990 and as Chair in 1991.
Janet Nguyen became the firstAsian American to serve as Vice Chair in 2009 and Chair in 2010.Lisa Bartlett andMichelle Steel became the first pair of Asian Americans to serve as Chair and Vice Chair concurrently in 2016.
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