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.
Don Wagner | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors | |
| Assumed office January 10, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Doug Chaffee |
| Vice Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors | |
| In office January 11, 2022 – January 10, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Doug Chaffee |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Do |
| Member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 3rd district | |
| Assumed office March 27, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Todd Spitzer |
| Mayor of Irvine, California | |
| In office December 13, 2016 – March 26, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Steven Choi |
| Succeeded by | Christina L. Shea |
| Member of the California State Assembly | |
| In office December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Chuck DeVore |
| Succeeded by | Steven Choi |
| Constituency | 70th district (2010–2012) 68th district (2012–2016) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 3, 1960 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Megan Wagner |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Irvine, California |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) University of California, Hastings College of the Law (JD) |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Website | Donald P. Wagner |
Education and family
editWagner 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 resides in Irvine, California.
Legal and political career
editWagner 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. Other previous positions include three active terms as a member of the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees. He founded and served as the first president of the Orange County Chapter of the Federalist Society.
In 2004, he sought election to the California State Assembly, but lost the primary to Chuck DeVore.[2] 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.
He 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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Donald P. Wagner | 30,002 | 37.7 | |
| Republican | Mary Ann Gaido | 26,278 | 33.0 | |
| Republican | Gang Chen | 11,816 | 14.8 | |
| Republican | Katherine Daigle | 8,299 | 10.4 | |
| Republican | David Chey | 3,206 | 4.0 | |
| Total votes | 79,601 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) | 35,592 | 45.3% | |
| Democratic | Ed Pope | 24,682 | 31.4% | |
| Republican | Katherine Daigle | 13,018 | 16.6% | |
| Republican | Ing Tiong | 5,341 | 6.8% | |
| Total votes | 78,633 | 100% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
California State Assemblyman
edit
In 2010, Wagner narrowly won the Republican primary election for the 70th Assembly District over Irvine City Councilman Steven Choi.[4] He then won the general election with 58.2% of the votes.[5]
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
2014 California State Assembly
edit| 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 | ||||
Orange County Board of Supervisors
editShortly 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.[6] The Orange County Register named him one of OC's Most Influential People in 2019 in recognition for his leadership at the Board.[7] 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.[8]
| 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 | ||||
| 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 | ||||
Political ratings
edit- Project Vote Smart provides the following results from legislative scorecards.[11]
- NRA Political Victory Fund – "A-" in 2014[12]
COVID-19 vaccine comments
editIn 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.[13][14][15][16]
References
edit- ^ a b "Project Vote Smart Biography".
- ^ "2004 Primary Election, Statement of Vote" (PDF). California Secretary of State. California Secretary of State. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ a b "Municipal Election History 1971 to Present". Irvine City Clerk's Office. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
- ^ "2010 primary" (PDF). elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov.
- ^ Sacramento Bee, California Assembly General election results Archived November 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Muhonen, Aliese (August 21, 2019). "'Everybody's happy today': Irvine Lake reopens to the public". Daily Pilot.
- ^ "Most Influential: Meet Orange County's 100 top influencers for 2019". December 23, 2019.
- ^ "O.C. moves to clear backlog of unprocessed rape kits". Daily Pilot. February 13, 2020.
- ^ "Election Results Archives - Third Supervisorial District Vacancy Election - March 12, 2019". Orange County Registrar of Voters.
- ^ "Certified statement at the presidential primary election in the County of Orange, State of Clifornia" (PDF). www.ocvote.gov. 2020-03-03.
- ^ "Assembly Member Donald P Wagner (CA)". vote-smart.org. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ "NRA-PVF | California". nrapvf.org. NRA-PVF. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014.
- ^ "'There is not ... period': Doctor tells California official there's no tracking device in Covid shot". NBC News. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "To @thedailybeast, @HuffPost, @TheWrap, @bubbaprog — Dr. Chau and I request a public retraction of the misinformation and a clear explanation of our positions. We are concerned your sensational stories may cause some individuals to further avoid the vaccine". Twitter. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "Was an Orange County Supervisor Seriously Concerned About Vaccine 'Tracking Devices'?". SNOPES. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Orange County official asks doctor about vaccine tracking device to debunk conspiracy theory". The Hill. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.