Donald P. Wagner, a Republican and Orange County Board of Supervisors member, is running for California secretary of state in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
He faces Shirley Weber, a Democrat.
Wagner has said the office should be nonpartisan, "representing the will of the people, not answering to Sacramento political machines," according to his candidate statement in the Official Voter Information Guide.
Candidate information
- Party: Republican
- Residence: Irvine, California
- Born: Dec. 3, 1960, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Education: Bachelor's degree in English, University of California, Los Angeles; law degree, University of California, Hastings College of Law (1987)
- Family: Married to Megan Wagner, an Orange County Superior Court judge. They have three children.
Experience and public service
Wagner has held elected office at the local and state level since 1998, according to his Wikipedia biography. He served as a trustee and board president of the South Orange County Community College District starting in 1998. He represented a district in the California State Assembly from 2010 to 2016, then served as mayor of Irvine from 2016 to 2019.
He has served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors representing District 3 since March 2019 and chaired the board from January 2023 to January 2025.
Wagner practiced law at several firms, including Kindel and Anderson (1987–1993), Wagner and Associates (1993–1998) and Wagner Lautsch. He also served as a judge pro tempore in Orange County Superior Court, as founding president of the Orange County chapter of the Federalist Society and as president of the American Lung Association of Orange County.
On the issues
The following positions are drawn from Wagner's candidate statement in the Official Voter Information Guide and from his campaign website.
Voter ID: Wagner said he supports requiring photo identification at the polls. He said a majority of states and most democratic nations require photo ID, and California does not, leaving election security weak.
Voter rolls: Wagner said California's voter rolls are outdated and the state wastes millions mailing ballots to people who have moved or died. He said he would clean up the rolls.
Vote counting: Wagner said he would speed up vote counting so California announces results on election night, rather than taking more than a month.
Election access and security: Wagner said he would make sure every eligible voter can participate while protecting election security by ensuring only eligible voters cast ballots.
Business services: Wagner said he would make the secretary of state's business division "small-business friendly."
Endorsements
Wagner has received endorsements from the following organizations, according to CalMatters and BallotReady profile data:
- Reform California
- California GOP
- California Republican Assembly
- Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
- California Rifle and Pistol Association
- Los Angeles County GOP
- San Bernardino County GOP
- Santa Clara County GOP
- Alameda County GOP
- San Francisco GOP
- Bay Area GOP
- Monterey County GOP
- Silicon Valley Association of Conservative Republicans
Candidate positions were drawn from Wagner's statement in the Official Voter Information Guide and responses collected by BallotReady. The Santa Monica Wave did not interview the candidate for this profile.
