Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan and incumbent District 3 Supervisor Don Wagner are going head-to-head in March’s primary election, with one of them likely to walk away with the seat representing the eastern part of the Orange County.
Unlike the OC Board of Supervisors District 1 race, in which one of five candidates has to secure a majority of the votes to avoid a November runoff, only a tie would leave District 3 without a winner.
District 3 represents all or at least parts of Anaheim Hills, Irvine, Lake Forest, Tustin, North Tustin, Villa Park, Orange, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Yorba Linda and the other eastern unincorporated areas. Ballots are making their way into the mailboxes of registered voters this week.
Read more: Follow the links on each candidate’s name to see how they responded to our 2024 voter guide questions, and check out the entire guide here.
The five-member Board of Supervisors sets policy and direction and oversees the county’s $9.3 billion budget, 18,000 employees and various departments including animal care, landfills, public works, social services and public health.
Khan was elected to the Irvine City Council in 2018 and then as the city’s mayor in 2020. Among the top issues she said she’d like to address as a county supervisor are homelessness, housing and climate change.
Wagner was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2019 in a special election. He previously served six years in the State Assembly, and was mayor of Irvine from 2016 to 2019. He said if he wins he would continue to prioritize public safety and addressing homelessness.
Khan called homelessness and housing the most pressing issues in the county. The county’s support of local nonprofits and organizations that address homelessness has been good, she said, but thinks the focus should move away from traditional shelters.
“We have to really dive in and take care of our unhoused,” she said. “That means making sure that we’re putting…
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