Donald P. Wagner, a Republican who represents District 3 on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, is running for California secretary of state in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. He faces Shirley Weber, a Democrat, according to BallotReady election data.
Wagner, an Irvine resident and attorney, said in his candidate statement that the office should be nonpartisan.
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; juris doctor, 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 in Orange County since 1998. He served as a trustee of the South Orange County Community College District starting in 1998 and later served as board president, according to public records. He then served in the California State Assembly from 2010 to 2016.
He served as mayor of Irvine from December 2016 to March 2019. He has represented District 3 on the Orange County Board of Supervisors since March 2019 and served as board chair from January 2023 to January 2025.
His legal career spans decades. Wagner practiced law at Kindel and Anderson from 1987 to 1993, then at Wagner and Associates from 1993 to 1998, and at Wagner Lautsch Limited Liability Partnership beginning in 1998. He 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 official candidate statement and his campaign website responses. All claims are the candidate's own.
Election integrity: Wagner said he supports requiring photo ID at the polls. He said most states and most democratic nations require photo ID and that California does not, leaving election security weak, according to his candidate statement. He pledged to clean up voter rolls, saying the state wastes millions mailing ballots to people who have moved or died.
Election administration: Wagner said he would speed up vote counting so California announces results on election night, rather than taking more than a month.
Government reform: Wagner said the secretary of state's office should be nonpartisan, "representing the will of the people, not answering to Sacramento political machines," according to his candidate statement. He also said the office's business division should be small-business friendly, according to his campaign website.
Voter access: Wagner said on his campaign website that he would make sure every eligible voter can participate while protecting election security by ensuring only eligible voters cast ballots.
Endorsements
The following endorsements were claimed by the endorsing 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 official candidate statement filed with the California Secretary of State's office and from responses on his campaign website.
