What’s at stake in this race

The five county supervisors are some of the most powerful people in Orange County, deciding nearly $11 billion in spending each year on key government services, including law enforcement, infrastructure, public health and mental health. They also oversee much of the county’s social safety net, including operating county shelters and funding permanent supportive housing.

If you live in an unincorporated part of Orange County, such as North Tustin or El Modena, the Board of Supervisors works essentially as your city council. That means the supervisors control local laws and oversee services like roads, police services, trash pickup and development.

You can find a map of all the unincorporated communities here.

What does the Orange County Board of Supervisors do?

• It serves as the de-facto city council of unincorporated areas of the county.
• It adopts an annual county budget.
• It creates local laws, known as ordinances.
• It supervises county departments.
• It determines policy for jails, juvenile halls, foster care and the Sheriff's Department.
• Supervisors sit on the board of the Orange County Transportation Authority.
• Two supervisors sit on the board of CalOptima, the county’s Medi-Cal insurer.

You might know them from

The O.C. Board of Supervisors came under intense scrutiny after LAist uncovered that former Supervisor Andrew Do was funneling millions in taxpayer dollars to family members and close associates. While Do serves time in federal prison, the county is pursuing a civil lawsuit against Do and his associates.

Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors has ordered audits to find out if the abuse went further and implemented reforms to try to prevent abuse of taxpayer funds in the future. Some have also questioned whether those reforms go far enough.

The county is also in the middle of a tense legal battle with Mind OC, once its main mental health partner. The county wants to break its lease with Mind OC to operate the Be Well Orange mental health campus, accusing the organization of squandering $60 million in public funds. Meanwhile, Mind OC has launched a public relations offensive that paints the county as standing in the way of residents’ access to top-quality mental health care.

The county has had to pay out millions in damages to victims of the 2024 Airport Fire, which was started by county Public Works employees. There still are outstanding claims. Last year, the county added approximately $400 million to its insurance fund to cover potential new payouts to fire victims.

The county is facing a $32 million lawsuit from the state wildlands firefighting agency, CalFire, which seeks to recover its costs for fighting the Airport Fire.

The county also is in the midst of settling claims of sexual harassment and retaliation in the District Attorney’s Office filed by former prosecutors and investigators.

Here are some things the Board of Supervisors doesn't do

The supervisors have limited power in the 34 incorporated cities in Orange County, where city councils run the show. The Board of Supervisors has little say over housing and development decisions within city limits.

Fast facts about the Board of Supervisors

• Supervisors are elected to four-year terms and can serve for up to two terms consecutively. They can run for a third term if they have a gap in time on the board. 
• Technically, the Board of Supervisors is a nonpartisan body. It is currently made up of three registered Democrats and two registered Republicans. Sometimes board members align themselves by party, but that’s not always the case.  
• The current district boundaries went into effect in early 2022.

What’s on the agenda for next term

Mental health care: Be Well Irvine, which is supposed to be the county’s signature mental health campus, is essentially ready, but its future is uncertain because of the legal battle between the county and Mind OC. Some supervisors want the county Health Care Agency, which the board oversees, to take over all campus operations.

Budget: The county’s budget has been weakened by payouts to victims of the Airport Fire and sexual harassment and retaliation claims in the District Attorney’s Office. Plus, the county has to contend with major cuts by the Trump administration to healthcare, social services and housing support. Nearly 40% of Orange County’s most recent budget came from state and federal funds.

What it takes to win

A candidate could win outright June 2 with more than 50% of votes cast. If no candidate crosses that threshold, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff in the November general election.

The candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 4

Four candidates are vying to be the Orange County supervisor for District 4, which includes Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, Stanton and portions of Anaheim.

The district is currently represented by Doug Chaffee, who is termed out in January 2027. That means voters in northern Orange County will elect a new representative this year.

Connor Traut, Buena Park mayor/business owner

Connor Traut

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Courtesy Connor Traut

)

Connor Traut has served on the Buena Park City Council since 2018. Currently, he is the mayor. Before that, while a junior at Chapman University, he won a seat on the board of the Centralia Elementary School District, where he served from 2014 to 2018.

Traut was in the news recently for filing a complaint about a Buena Park police chaplain’s alleged anti-Muslim activity online. The chaplain was subsequently removed from his volunteer post.

Traut has supported increased resources for public safety in Buena Park, including police officers, license plate scanners and drone technology. He also touts his involvement in getting a regional homeless shelter up and running.

In his own words

Traut said he would take measures to lower costs, including for housing and healthcare, and increase incomes by supporting well-paying jobs. He said he would partner with cities to build senior and workforce housing near jobs and transit and expand housing vouchers and ADUs.

“I support tenant protections, strong code enforcement against slumlords and rental assistance to keep people housed,” he wrote in his response to the LAist candidate questionnaire.

Traut told LAist he was running for supervisor “to make sure this county continues to deliver on its promise for what it is, which I think is the epitome of the American dream.” Part of that, he said, is making sure his young son can afford to live in Orange County.

He noted that repairing the roads in his district was a major concern and said he would work to bring more tax dollars to District 4 from Measure M, the county half-cent sales tax.

On healthcare, Traut said he would work to keep people enrolled in CalOptima, including by hiring more workers to verify eligibility given new, stricter requirements put in place by the Trump administration.

“Right now, the caseload is far too high because of these stricter requirements,” he told LAist.

He also said he would partner with school districts and other entities to provide healthcare services to people not covered by insurance.

More voter resources:

• Website: https://www.connortraut.com/
• Endorsements: Orange County Democratic Party, Buena Park Police Association, National Union of Healthcare Workers, Orange County Supervisors Doug Chaffee, Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento
• Full endorsement list here.

Fred Jung, Fullerton mayor/businessman

Fred Jung has served on the Fullerton City Council since 2020. He’s been in the news recently because the city is facing a large budget gap as a result of an apparent accounting error by city staff. Jung is now seeking to put a sales tax on the ballot to fix the city’s aging roads and other infrastructure.

Jung was also forced by a judge to change his ballot statement after a political opponent successfully challenged some of the language, including Jung’s assertion that he had built nine parks in the city and reversed a budget deficit.

Once a registered Democrat, Jung is now registered as having no party preference and is endorsed in this election by the conservative Lincoln Club.

Jung says he will work to fix aging infrastructure, grow the economy, invest in public safety and expand transportation options.

In his own words

Jung told LAist he sees the county as a “force multiplier” that can bring cities together to tackle problems like infrastructure and economic development. He said he would work to attract business development and innovation to his district, and throughout Orange County.

“We should be using our incredibly quality education to get innovation going again in this county,” he said.

If elected, Jung said he would explore how technology could make the county more modern, efficient and cost-effective in the face of budget challenges.

“We’re going to have to ask a lot of our staff to do more with less,” he said.

Following the Andrew Do corruption scandal, Jung said he would work to restore the public’s trust in Orange County government.

“You realize that there was an excessive amount of power given to supervisors,” he said. “I look forward to looking at as many guardrails in place as we can put in.”

Jung also said he would work to drive down the costs of healthcare for seniors through CalOptima and prioritize public safety.

More voter resources:

• Website: https://www.fredforsupervisor.com/
• Endorsements: Orange County Lincoln Club, Fullerton Firefighters Association, the Police Officers associations of Fullerton, La Habra and Placentia
• Full endorsement list here.

Tim Shaw, Orange County Board of Education trustee

Tim Shaw was elected to the La Habra City Council in 2008 and was reelected in 2012 and 2016. In 2020, he won a seat on the O.C. Board of Education. He was reelected in 2024. Shaw narrowly lost an election to join the Board of Supervisors in 2018 to current Supervisor Doug Chaffee.

Shaw is a fiscal conservative with a focus on public safety, transportation infrastructure and school choice.

He briefly resigned from the Board of Education in 2021 after a resident sued him for serving simultaneously on the board and on the La Habra City Council. Serving in two elected offices at the same time is generally prohibited by state law. After Shaw resigned from his city post, the Board of Education reappointed him to his old position, which a judge ruled was likely also against the law. He ultimately won his Board of Education seat back in a June 2022 special election.

Shaw vowed to make sure law enforcement has adequate resources to fight crime, increase the availability of affordable and transitional housing and ensure local control. He also supports transparent government spending.

In his own words

Shaw did not respond to LAist’s multiple requests to respond to a candidate survey.

More voter resources:

• Website: www.shaw4oc.com
• Endorsements: Republican Party of Orange County, California Republican Assembly
• Full endorsement list here.

Rose Espinoza, La Habra City Council member/executive director

Rose Espinoza has served on the La Habra City Council since 2000. She has served as mayor six times, most recently in 2025. Espinoza founded a nonprofit in 1991 that provides tutoring and mentoring to low-income children in La Habra. She continues to serve as executive director of the organization.

Espinoza wants to expand childcare subsidies, reduce public transit fares, fast-track affordable and mixed-income homes on public land and convert unused offices into housing.

In her own words

In response to LAist’s candidate questionnaire regarding affordability, Espinoza said the county should “establish a countywide affordable housing strategic plan that can set a goal to meet local housing needs.” She said this plan should be developed in partnership with the Kennedy Commission, a nonprofit that advocates for more affordable housing.

Espinoza also said she would “hold listening sessions with the community to see how I can make quick, visible improvements that matter to everyday people.” And she said she would demand the federal government pay its fair share of the social costs of stepped-up immigration enforcement.

“My utmost concern and goal is to protect the children of deported parents, and I would fund the Social Service Agency to keep the children of deported parents out of foster care,” she wrote in her candidate questionnaire.

More voter resources:

• Website: https://www.rosie4supervisor.com/

Campaign finance

How to get involved: