Donald P. Wagner (born December 3, 1960) is an American politician, currently serving as a member of the

Orange County Board of Supervisors The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California, along with being the executive of the county. Membership The board consists of five supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by t ...

for the 3rd district and chair. He previously served as mayor of

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

and as a Republican member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, 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.

Education and family

Wagner received a bachelor's degree in English from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, and a Juris Doctor in 1987 from the

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (abbreviated as UC Law SF or UC Law) is a public law school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was known as the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (a ...

and was admitted to the California Bar in the same year. Wagner is married to Orange County Superior Court Judge Megan Wagner, and he and his family resides in

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. 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 The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...

. In 2004, he sought election to the

, but lost the primary to Chuck DeVore. In 2013, he sought election to the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

to succeed

Mimi Walters Marian Elaine "Mimi" Walters (née Krogius; born May 14, 1962) is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2015 to 2019 as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional distric ...

, who was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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

In 2010, Wagner narrowly won the Republican primary election for the 70th Assembly District over Irvine

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

man Steven Choi. He then won the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

with 58.2% of the votes. 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

2004 California State Assembly

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

Political ratings

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

provides the following results from legislative scorecards. * NRA Political Victory Fund – "A-" in 2014

COVID-19 vaccine comments

In April 2021, Wagner inquired about whether

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

s 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.

References

External links

Wagner's Facebook profile

Project Vote Smart Biography

Join California Donald P. Wagner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Donald Living people University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Mayors of Irvine, California Orange County Supervisors California state court judges 1960 births 21st-century mayors of places in California 21st-century members of the California State Legislature