Donald P. Wagner

American politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald P. Wagner (born December 3, 1960) is an American politician, currently serving as a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd district and chair. He previously served as mayor of Irvine, California and as a Republican member of the California State Assembly, representing the 68th district, which includes portions of Orange County. In 2019, Wagner won a seat as a nonpartisan representative on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing District 3.

Preceded byTodd Spitzer
Preceded byDoug Chaffee
Succeeded byDoug Chaffee
Preceded byDoug Chaffee
Quick facts Don Wagner, Member of theOrange County Board of Supervisors from the 3rd district ...
Don Wagner
Official portrait, 2016
Member of the
Orange County Board of Supervisors
from the 3rd district
Assumed office
March 27, 2019
Preceded byTodd Spitzer
Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors
In office
January 10, 2023  January 14, 2025
Preceded byDoug Chaffee
Succeeded byDoug Chaffee
Vice Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors
In office
January 11, 2022  January 10, 2023
Preceded byDoug Chaffee
Succeeded byAndrew Do
Mayor of Irvine
In office
December 13, 2016  March 26, 2019
Preceded bySteven Choi
Succeeded byChristina L. Shea
Member of the California State Assembly
In office
December 6, 2010  November 30, 2016
Preceded byChuck DeVore
Succeeded bySteven Choi
Constituency70th district (2010–2012)
68th district (2012–2016)
Personal details
Born (1960-12-03) December 3, 1960 (age 65)
PartyRepublican
SpouseMegan Wagner
Children3
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
University of California, Hastings College of the Law (JD)
OccupationAttorney
WebsiteDonald P. Wagner
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Education and family

Wagner received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor in 1987 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and was admitted to the California Bar in the same year.[1]

Wagner is married to Orange County Superior Court Judge Megan Wagner, and he and his family reside in Irvine, California.

Wagner was an attorney for Kindel and Anderson from 1987 to 1993, and for Wagner and Associates from 1993 to 1998. He has been an attorney for Wagner Lautsch Limited Liability Partnership since 1998.[1]

Wagner served on several committees or advisory boards for the Orange County Bar Association and as a Judge Pro Tempore in the Superior Court of Orange County. He founded and served as the first president of the Orange County Chapter of the Federalist Society.

Early political career

First elected in 1998, Wagner served three terms as a member of the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees.

In 2004, he sought election to the California State Assembly, but lost the primary to Chuck DeVore.[2]

California State Assemblyman

Assemblyman Wagner speaking at a town coffee meet at Lake Forest, CA.

In 2010, Wagner narrowly won the Republican primary election for the 70th Assembly District over Irvine City Councilman Steven Choi.[3] He then won the general election with 58.2% of the votes.[4]

For the 2011–2012 legislative session, Wagner was appointed to these committees:

  • Aging and Long-Term Care Committee
  • Appropriations Committee
  • Budget Committee
  • Education Committee
  • Judiciary Committee – Vice Chair

In 2013, he sought election to the California State Senate to succeed Mimi Walters, who was elected to the United States House of Representatives the prior year. He lost the special election to Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach.

Political ratings

Mayor of Irvine

Wagner won the 2016 Irvine mayoral election, and won reelection in the 2018 Irvine mayoral election. He won the Orange County Third District Supervisorial seat in 2019, and currently holds the seat.

Orange County Board of Supervisors

Shortly after taking office in 2019, Supervisor Wagner successfully brought together four large entities to negotiate the reopening of a public resource known as Irvine Lake for shoreline fishing.[7] The Orange County Register named him one of OC's Most Influential People in 2019 in recognition for his leadership at the Board.[8] Wagner stated public safety is also a top priority of his. In 2020, he identified and allocated funding to process a 30-year sexual assault kit backlog at the County of Orange, which led to the prosecution of a longtime sex offender and several individuals placed on national sex offender registries. The County had over 1,500 unprocessed rape kits and is set to complete testing by the fall of 2021.[9]

COVID-19 vaccine comments

In April 2021, Wagner inquired about whether COVID-19 vaccines contained "tracking devices" in response to constituents and public commentators making claims falsely asserting so. This led to public controversy with people accusing Wagner of promoting these claims. In response, Wagner has denied that this was the case and stated that he does not believe in "vaccine conspiracies," while demanding retractions from various media outlets and individuals for publishing what he asserted was "misinformation." Several media outlets later updated their stories by verifying sources, including a quote from Dr. Chau, who made a clarifying statement that his reaction was at the public commentators and not at Wagner.[10][11][12][13]

Andrew Do corruption case

Wagner defended Andrew Do in 2024 when allegations regarding his abuse of public funds surfaced, citing "there's nothing illegal about what was done". During the same session, he blocked a reform proposal that require members on the board to disclose close family connections to groups they award money to. Do is currently serving a five-prison sentence after pleading guilty.[14]

Electoral history

1998

More information Candidate, Votes ...
South Orange County Community College District Seat 2, 1998[15]
Candidate Votes %
Donald P. Wagner 90,061 53.0
Charles W. Maddox 58,209 34.2
Douglas M. Chapman 21,774 12.8
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2004

More information Party, Candidate ...
California's 70th State Assembly district Republican primary election, 2004[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Chuck DeVore 25,248 46.3
Republican Cristi Cristich 14,363 26.3
Republican Donald P. Wagner 8,146 14.9
Republican Marianne Zippi 4,501 8.3
Republican Long K. Pham 1,709 3.1
Republican Chonchol D. Gupta 544 1.0
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2010

More information Party, Candidate ...
California's 70th State Assembly district Republican primary election, 2010[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donald P. Wagner 15,862 32.8
Republican Steven Choi 14,569 30.1
Republican Jerry Amante 11,660 24.1
Republican Jay Ferguson 6,341 13.1
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More information Party, Candidate ...
California's 70th State Assembly district general election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donald P. Wagner 89,636 58.2
Democratic Melissa Fox 58,208 37.8
Libertarian Deborah Tharp 6,212 4.0
Total votes 154,056 100.0
Republican hold
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2012

More information Primary election, Party ...
California's 68th State Assembly district election, 2012
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Don Wagner (incumbent) 43,241 69.2
Democratic Christina Avalos 19,254 30.8
Total votes 62,495 100.0
General election
Republican Don Wagner (incumbent) 104,706 60.8
Democratic Christina Avalos 67,448 39.2
Total votes 172,154 100.0
Republican hold
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2014

More information Primary election, Party ...
California's 68th State Assembly district election, 2014
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) 35,223 69.7
Democratic Anne Cameron 15,297 30.3
Total votes 50,520 100.0
General election
Republican Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) 66,445 68.4
Democratic Anne Cameron 30,749 31.6
Total votes 97,194 100.0
Republican hold
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2015

More information Primary election, Party ...
2015 California State Senate 37th district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Mimi Walters[18]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Moorlach 38,125 50.3
Republican Don Wagner 33,411 44.0
Republican Naz Namazi 2,261 3.5
Democratic Louise Stewardson (write-in) 1,696 2.2
Total votes 75,493 100.0
Republican hold
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2016

More information Candidate, Votes ...
City of Irvine mayoral election, 2016
Candidate Votes %
Donald P. Wagner 30,002 37.7
Mary Ann Gaido 26,278 33.0
Gang Chen 11,816 14.8
Katherine Daigle 8,299 10.4
David Chey 3,206 4.0
Total votes 79,601
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2018

More information Candidate, Votes ...
City of Irvine mayoral election, 2018
Candidate Votes %
Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) 35,592 45.3%
Ed Pope 24,682 31.4%
Katherine Daigle 13,018 16.6%
Ing Tiong 5,341 6.8%
Total votes 78,633 100%
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2019

More information Party, Candidate ...
Orange County Board of Supervisors 3rd district special election, 2019[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donald P. Wagner 30,240 42.0
Democratic Loretta Sanchez 26,708 37.1
Republican Kristine "Kris" Murray 5,338 7.4
Republican Larry Bales 3,912 5.4
Republican Deborah Pauly 3,847 5.3
Republican Kim-Thy "Katie" Hoang Bayliss 1,366 1.9
Republican Katherine Daigle 597 0.8
Total votes 72,008 100.0
Republican hold
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2020

More information Party, Candidate ...
Orange County Board of Supervisors 3rd district, 2020[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) 80,544 52.3
Democratic Ashleigh Aitken 73,334 47.7
Total votes 153,878 100.0
Republican hold
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2024

More information Party, Candidate ...
Orange County Board of Supervisors 3rd district, 2024[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) 97,706 63.5
Democratic Farrah Khan 56,207 36.5
Total votes 153,913 100.0
Republican hold
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References

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