SANTA ANA, Calif.—Orange County Board Chairman Don Wagner announced Feb. 10 he would seek another term as supervisor in 2024.
Wagner won a special election to join the board in 2019 and then won a full term in 2020.
The former Irvine mayor and Assemblyman made his announcement at the Old Orange County courthouse in Santa Ana. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes and Supervisor Andrew Do joined Wagner for the announcement along with several other local elected leaders.
Wagner touted his leadership in the reopening of Irvine Lake for fishing and support for funding efforts to process a backlog of three decades of sexual assault kits for evidence. He said a key priority in his next term would be public safety.
“We cannot allow the lawlessness elsewhere in our state to take root in our county,” Wagner said.
He also noted that with much of the federal money for the pandemic drying up the county must be “vigilant” in its budgeting.
“We must remember the budgets of our residents are quite stressed as well,” he said. “We can balance budgets without raising taxes.”
Do praised Wagner as a “steady hand on the board and we need his leadership. ... He gets things done.”
Do noted how Wagner has led efforts to establish a veteran’s cemetery in Anaheim Hills.
The sheriff said he was glad to have an ally in the battle against fentanyl abuse. “We’re lockstep in the way we view public safety,” he said.
