Orange County Board of Supervisors

Not to be confused with Orange County Board of County Commissioners.

Orange County Board of Supervisors
Type
Type	Board of Supervisors
Term limits	2 terms (8 years)
Leadership
Chair	Don Wagner (R) since January 10, 2023
Vice Chair	Doug Chaffee (D) since January 9, 2024
Structure
Seats	5
Political groups	Officially nonpartisan   Democratic (3)   Republican (2)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Two-round system
Last election	November 5, 2024
Next election	November 3, 2026

Map of Orange County's Supervisorial Districts

The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California, along with being the executive of the county.

Membership

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, with run-off elections (if necessary) in November. Supervisorial terms begin the first Monday after January 1 after the election. Vacancies on the board are filled via special 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 the governor of California. The December 1996 appointment of Laguna Niguel City Councilman Thomas W. Wilson by Governor Pete Wilson (no relation) was the last time that a gubernatorial appointment was used to fill a supervisorial vacancy (Supervisor Marian Bergeson had resigned to become the California Secretary for Education). The January 2003 special election of former State Assemblyman Bill Campbell was the first time that a special election was used to fill a supervisorial vacancy (Supervisor Todd Spitzer had resigned after he was elected to the State Assembly to replace the term-limited Campbell).

The current members of the board of supervisors are:

• District 1: Janet Nguyen, Republican (since December 4, 2024; previously March 27, 2007 – December 1, 2014)
• District 2: Vicente Sarmiento, Democrat (since January 10, 2023)
• District 3: Donald P. Wagner, Republican (since March 27, 2019)
• District 4: Doug Chaffee, Democrat (since January 7, 2019)
• District 5: Katrina Foley, Democrat (since March 26, 2021)

Functions

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.

Supervisorial Districts

2012–2022

The First Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Westminster, the unincorporated community of Midway City, and the northernmost three square miles of the city of Fountain Valley north of Warner Avenue, including Mile Square Regional Park.

The Second Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Costa Mesa, Cypress, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, and Stanton, along with two-thirds of the city of Fountain Valley that are south of Warner Avenue and southwestern portions of the City of Buena Park. It also includes the unincorporated area of Rossmoor.

The Third Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Orange, Tustin, Villa Park, and Yorba Linda, most of the City of Irvine, as well as the Anaheim Hills area in the city of Anaheim. It also includes the unincorporated areas of El Modena, MCAS El Toro, Modjeska Canyon, Olive, Orange Park Acres, Santiago Canyon, Silverado, Trabuco Canyon, and Tustin Foothills.

The Fourth Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, the portions of the city of Anaheim outside of Anaheim Hills, and most of Buena Park.

The Fifth Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano, along with small southwestern portions of the City of Irvine, as well as the unincorporated areas of Coto de Caza, Ladera Ranch, and Las Flores.

2002–2012

The First Supervisorial District consisted of the cities of Santa Ana and Westminster, as well as the eastern half of the city of Garden Grove.

The Second Supervisorial District consisted of the cities of Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, and Stanton, as well as the western half of the city of Garden Grove. It also includes the unincorporated areas of Rossmoor, Sunset Beach, and Surfside.

The Third Supervisorial District consisted of the cities of Brea, Irvine, Orange, Tustin, Villa Park, and Yorba Linda, as well as the Anaheim Hills area in the city of Anaheim. It also includes the unincorporated areas of El Modena, MCAS El Toro, Modjeska Canyon, Olive, Orange Park Acres, Santiago Canyon, Silverado, Trabuco Canyon, and Tustin Foothills.

The Fourth Supervisorial District consisted of the cities of Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, as well as the portions of the city of Anaheim outside of Anaheim Hills.

The Fifth Supervisorial District consisted of the cities of Aliso 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 the unincorporated areas of Coto de Caza, Ladera Ranch, and Las Flores.

Special elections

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.

January 28, 2003, Third District special election

Orange County Board of Supervisors special election, 2003

January 28, 2003
1 of 5 seats to the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Majority party   Party Republican Last election 5 Seats before 5 Seats won 1 Seats after 5 Seat change

The first special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on January 28, 2003. Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer had resigned on November 19, 2002, in preparation for taking office as a member of the California State Assembly on December 2 to replace the term-limited Bill 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%

February 6, 2007, First District special election

Orange County Board of Supervisors special election, 2007

February 6, 2007
1 of 5 seats to the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Majority party   Party Republican Last election 5 Seats before 5 Seats won 1 Seats after 5 Seat change

The second special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on February 6, 2007. First District Supervisor Lou Correa had resigned on December 4, 2006, when he took office as a member of the California State Senate to replace the term-limited Joe Dunn.

Garden Grove City Councilwoman Janet Nguyen won the special election to fill the remaining two years of the term by seven votes over Garden Grove Unified School District Boardmember Trung Nguyen (no relation) after a protracted recount battle (ironically, Correa had defeated Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher for the Senate seat after a protracted recount battle, as well). Both Nguyens had unexpectedly finished ahead of the front-runners, recently retired State Assemblyman Tom Umberg and Santa Ana City 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%

June 8, 2010, Fourth District special election

Orange County Board of Supervisors special election, 2010

June 8, 2010
1 of 5 seats to the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Majority party   Party Republican Last election 5 Seats before 5 Seats won 1 Seats after 5 Seat change

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 Supervisor Chris Norby had resigned on January 29, 2010, when he took office as a member of the California State Assembly to replace Mike Duvall, who had resigned from the Assembly in the wake of a lobbyist sex scandal.

Fullerton City Councilman Shawn Nelson won the seat by 12% over Anaheim City Councilman Harry 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%

January 27, 2015, First District special election

Orange County Board of Supervisors special election, 2015

January 27, 2015
1 of 5 seats to the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Majority party   Party Republican Last election 5 Seats before 5 Seats won 1 Seats after 5 Seat change

The fourth special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on January 27, 2015. First District Supervisor Janet Nguyen had resigned on December 1, 2014, when she took office as a member of the California State Senate to replace the term-limited Lou 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-limited Joe Dunn.

Former Garden Grove City Councilman Andrew 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%

March 12, 2019, Third District special election

Orange County Board of Supervisors special election, 2019

March 12, 2019
1 of 5 seats to the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 4 1 Seats before 3 1 Seats won 1 0 Seats after 4 1 Seat change

The fifth special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on March 12, 2019. Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer had resigned on January 7, 2019, when he took office as District Attorney of Orange County after defeating incumbent Tony Rackauckas.

Irvine Mayor Donald P. Wagner won the seat by 5% over former Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

Candidates

• Donald P. Wagner (Republican)
• Loretta Sanchez (Democratic)
• Kristine "Kris" Murray (Republican)
• Larry Bales (Republican)
• Deborah Pauly (Republican)
• Kim-Thy "Katie" Hoang Bayliss (Republican)
• Katherine Daigle (Republican)

Results

Orange County Board of Supervisors 3rd district special election, 2019^[1]

Candidate		Votes	%
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

March 9, 2021, Second District special election

Orange County Board of Supervisors special election, 2021

March 9, 2021
1 of 5 seats to the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 4 1 Seats before 3 1 Seats won 0 1 Seats after 3 2 Seat change 1 1

The sixth special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on March 9, 2021. Second District Supervisor Michelle Steel had resigned on January 3, 2021, when she took office as a member of the United States House of Representatives after defeating incumbent Harley Rouda.

Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley won the seat by 12% over former State Senator John Moorlach.

Candidates

• Katrina Foley (Democratic)
• John Moorlach (Republican)
• Kevin Muldoon (Republican)
• Michael Vo (Republican)
• Janet Rappaport (Democratic)

Results

Orange County Board of Supervisors 2nd district special election, 2021^[2]

Candidate		Votes	%
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

Special districts

Following are the special districts managed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors

• Flood control
• Development agency
• Lighting
• County Service Area
• Sewer Maintenance

Chairs and Vice Chairs

Harriett Wieder became the first woman to serve as Vice Chair in 1980 and as Chair in 1984. Patricia C. Bates and Janet Nguyen became the first pair of women to serve as Chair and Vice Chair concurrently in 2009.

Gaddi Vasquez became the first Latino to serve as Vice Chair in 1990 and as Chair in 1991.

Janet Nguyen became the first Asian American to serve as Vice Chair in 2009 and Chair in 2010. Lisa Bartlett and Michelle Steel became the first pair of Asian Americans to serve as Chair and Vice Chair concurrently in 2016.

Year	Chair[3]	Vice Chair[3]
1889	William H. Spurgeon
1890
1891	Joseph Yoch
1892
1893
1894
1895	Franklin P. Nickey
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903	David MacMullan
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910	George W. Angle
1911	Thomas B. Talbert
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927	William Schumacher
1928
1929	Willard Smith
1930
1931	John C. Mitchell
1932
1933	Willard Smith
1934
1935	John C. Mitchell
1936
1937	Willard Smith
1938
1939
1940
1941	Willis H. Warner
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947	Willard Smith
1948
1949	Willis H. Warner
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960	Cecil M. Featherly
1961	William H. Hirstein
1962	William J. Phillips
1963	Cecil M. Featherly
1964	William J. Phillips
1965	William H. Hirstein
1966	Alton Allen
1967	David L. Baker
1968	Cecil M. Featherly
1969	William H. Hirstein
1970	Alton Allen
1971	Robert Battin
1972	Ronald Caspers
1973
1974	Ralph B. Clark
1975	Ralph Diedrich
1976
1977	Thomas F. Riley
1978
1979	Philip Anthony
1980	Ralph B. Clark	Harriett Wieder
1981		Bruce Nestande
1982	Bruce Nestande	Roger R. Stanton
1983	Roger R. Stanton	Harriett Wieder
1984	Harriett Wieder	Thomas F. Riley
1985	Thomas F. Riley	Ralph B. Clark
1986	Ralph B. Clark	Bruce Nestande
1987	Roger R. Stanton	Harriett Wieder
1988	Harriett Wieder	Thomas F. Riley
1989	Thomas F. Riley	Don Roth
1990	Don Roth	Gaddi Vasquez
1991	Gaddi Vasquez	Roger R. Stanton
1992	Roger R. Stanton	Harriett Wieder
1993	Harriett Wieder	Thomas F. Riley
1994	Thomas F. Riley	Gaddi Vasquez
1995	Gaddi Vasquez	Roger R. Stanton
1996	Roger R. Stanton	William G. Steiner
1997	William G. Steiner	Jim Silva
1998	Jim Silva	Thomas W. Wilson
1999	Charles V. Smith
2000		Jim Silva
2001	Cynthia Coad
2002		Thomas W. Wilson
2003	Thomas W. Wilson	Jim Silva
2004
2005	Bill Campbell	Thomas W. Wilson
2006		Chris Norby
2007	Chris Norby	John Moorlach
2008	John Moorlach	Patricia C. Bates
2009	Patricia C. Bates	Janet Nguyen
2010	Janet Nguyen	Bill Campbell
2011	Bill Campbell	John Moorlach
2012	John Moorlach	Shawn Nelson
2013	Shawn Nelson	Patricia C. Bates
2014
2015	Todd Spitzer	Lisa Bartlett
2016	Lisa Bartlett	Michelle Steel
2017	Michelle Steel	Andrew Do
2018	Andrew Do	Shawn Nelson
2019	Lisa Bartlett	Michelle Steel
2020	Michelle Steel	Andrew Do
2021	Andrew Do	Doug Chaffee
2022	Doug Chaffee	Donald P. Wagner
2023	Donald P. Wagner	Andrew Do
2024		Doug Chaffee

Supervisors^[3]

Year	1st District	2nd District	3rd District	4th District	5th District
1889	William H. Spurgeon	Jacob Ross, Jr.	Sheldon Littlefield	Samuel Armor	A. Guy Smith
1890
1891	Joseph Yoch	Joseph W. Hawkins[4]	Louis Schorn		William N. Tedford
1892
1893
1894
1895	Franklin P. Nickey	Joseph W. Hawkins[4]	William G. Potter		A. Guy Smith
1896
1897
1898					George McCampbell[5]
1899		R. Edwin Larter		DeWitt C. Pixley[6]	John F. Snover
1900
1901
1902
1903	Hudson E. Smith	Jerome Fulsom	Dallison Linebarger	David MacMullan	Upton C. Holderman
1904
1905
1906
1907		George W. Moore			George W. Angle
1908
1909
1910		Thomas B. Talbert[7]		Fredrick W. Struck[8]
1911					Jasper Leck
1912
1913			William Schumacher
1914
1915
1916
1917	S. Henderson Finley
1918
1919				Nelson T. Edwards	Howard A. Wassum
1920
1921
1922
1923				Leon O. Whitsell	George Jeffrey
1924
1925
1926				Willard Smith[9]
1927		John C. Mitchell
1928
1929	Charles H. Chapman
1930
1931
1932
1933	William C. Jerome		Leroy E. Lyon
1934
1935					N. Elliot West
1936
1937	Steele Finley		Harry D. Riley
1938
1939		Willis H. Warner
1940
1941	Fred C. Rowland		James A. Baker
1942
1943					Irvin George Gordon
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949	Cecil M. Featherly		Ralph J. McFadden
1950
1951					Heinz Kaiser
1952
1953
1954
1955				William H. Hirstein
1956
1957			William J. Phillips
1958					Benjamin O. Reddick[10]
1959					Claire M. Nelson
1960
1961
1962
1963		David L. Baker			Alton Allen
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969	Robert Battin
1970
1971				Ralph B. Clark	Ronald Caspers
1972
1973			Ralph Diedrich
1974
1975		Laurence Schmit			Thomas F. Riley[11]
1976
1977	Philip Anthony[12]
1978
1979		Harriett Wieder
1980			Edison Miller[13]
1981	Roger R. Stanton[14]		Bruce Nestande
1982
1983
1984
1985	Roger R. Stanton[14]
1986
1987			Gaddi Vasquez[15]	Don Roth
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993				William G. Steiner[16]
1994
1995		Jim Silva			Marian Bergeson
1996			Donald Saltarelli[17]
1997	Charles V. Smith		Todd Spitzer		Thomas W. Wilson[18]
1998
1999				Cynthia Coad
2000
2001
2002
2003			Bill Campbell[19]	Chris Norby
2004
2005	Lou Correa
2006
2007	Janet Nguyen[20]	John Moorlach[21]			Patricia C. Bates
2008
2009
2010				Shawn Nelson[22]
2011
2012
2013			Todd Spitzer
2014
2015	Andrew Do[23]	Michelle Steel			Lisa Bartlett[24]
2016
2017
2018
2019			Donald P. Wagner[25]	Doug Chaffee
2020
2021		Katrina Foley[26]
2022
2023		Vicente Sarmiento			Katrina Foley[27]
2024
2025	Janet Nguyen[28]

Notes

1. "Election Results Archives - Third Supervisorial District Vacancy Election - March 12, 2019". Orange County Registrar of Voters.
2. "March 9, 2021 Second Supervisorial District Vacancy Election". Orange County Registrar of Voters. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
3. "Chronological History of Orange County Board of Supervisors" (PDF). Orange County Archives, Office of the Orange County Clerk-Recorder. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
4. Joseph Hawkins was a registered Democrat during his first term as a Supervisor but was a registered member of the Populist Party for his second term
5. George McCampbell was appointed by Governor James Budd in April 1898 to replace A. Guy Smith, who had died in office in March
6. DeWitt Pixley was elected as a Silver Republican but became a Democrat during his term
7. Thomas Talbert was appointed by Governor James Gillett in August 1909 to replace George Moore, who had resigned from office
8. Fredrick Struck was appointed by Governor James Gillett in June 1910 to replace David MacMullan
9. Willard Smith was appointed by Governor Friend Richardson in August 1925 to replace Leon Whitsell, who had resigned to become a California Railroad Commissioner
10. Benjamin Reddick was appointed by Governor Goodwin Knight in August 1958 to replace Heinz Kaiser, who had died in office in July just a month after being reelected
11. Thomas Riley was appointed by Governor Ronald Reagan in September 1974 to replace Ronald Caspers, who had died in office when his ship disappeared in June just nine days after being reelected
12. Philip Anthony was inaugurated in November 1976 (two months early), as Robert Battin had been disqualified from office eight months before the expiration of his supervisorial term
13. Edison Miller was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in July 1979 to replace Ralph Diedrich, who had resigned from office
14. Roger Stanton was a registered Democrat during his first term as a Supervisor but was a registered Republican for his final three terms
15. Gaddi Vasquez was appointed by Governor George Deukmejian in March 1987 to replace Bruce Nestande, who had resigned from office
16. William Steiner was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in March 1993 to replace Don Roth, who had resigned from office
17. Donald Saltarelli was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in October 1995 to replace Gaddi Vasquez, who had resigned from office
18. Thomas Wilson was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in December 1996 to replace Marian Bergeson, who had resigned to become State Secretary for Education
19. Bill Campbell won a January 2003 special election to replace Todd Spitzer, who had resigned in November 2002 to take a seat in the State Assembly
20. Janet Nguyen won a February 2007 special election to replace Lou Correa, who had resigned in December 2006 to take a seat in the State Senate
21. John Moorlach was inaugurated in December 2006 (one month early), as Jim Silva had resigned one month before the expiration of his supervisorial term to take a seat in the State Assembly
22. Shawn Nelson won a June 2010 special election to replace Chris Norby, who had resigned in January 2010 to take a seat in the State Assembly
23. Andrew Do won a January 2015 special election to replace Janet Nguyen, who had resigned in December 2014 to take a seat in the State Senate
24. Lisa Bartlett was inaugurated in December 2014 (one month early), as Patricia Bates had resigned one month before the expiration of her supervisorial term to take a seat in the State Senate
25. Donald Wagner won a March 2019 special election to replace Todd Spitzer, who had resigned in January 2019 to become District Attorney of Orange County
26. Katrina Foley won a March 2021 special election to replace Michelle Steel, who had resigned in January 2021 to take a seat in the United States House of Representatives
27. The home of Katrina Foley was moved from the second district to the fifth district in redistricting
28. Janet Nguyen was inaugurated in December 2024 (one month early), as Andrew Do had resigned two months before the expiration of his supervisorial term

External links

• Orange County Board of Supervisors