Donald P. Wagner

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Don Wagner
Member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 3rd District
Incumbent
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
Member of the California State Assembly from the 68th district 70th district (2010–2012)
In office December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2016
Preceded by	Chuck DeVore
Succeeded by	Steven Choi
Personal details
Born	(1960-12-03) December 3, 1960 (age 60) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Megan
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

Donald P. "Don" 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. 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 his seat as a nonpartisan representative to the Orange County Board of Supervisors representing the Third District, where nearly 600,000 diverse residents live: Irvine, Tustin, North Tustin, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, Orange, and the unincorporated canyon areas.

Education and family[]

Wagner received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctorate 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[]

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. 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 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.

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.^[2] He then won the general election with 58.2% of the votes.^[3]

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[]

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. ^[4] The Orange County Register named him one of OC's Most Influential People in 2019 in recognition for his leadership at the Board. ^[5] 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. ^[6]

Political ratings[]

• Project Vote Smart provides the following results from legislative scorecards.^[7]
• National Rifle Association – A in 2010^{[citation needed]}

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. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

References[]

External links[]

• Wagner's Facebook profile
• Project Vote Smart Biography
• Join California Donald P. Wagner