Yorba Linda played key role in electing Wagner as Orange County supervisor for Third District

Yorba Linda voters played the key role in electing Republican Don Wagner to the 3^rd District seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors held by Todd Spitzer until he became district attorney, based on unofficial results reported by Monday morning.

Wagner's largest margin over runner-up Democrat Loretta Sanchez in the seven-candidate field came in Yorba Linda – 2,817 votes. Wagner's margins over Sanchez in the district's other cities were substantially smaller, 847 votes in Orange, 839 in Anaheim and 488 in Villa Park.

Voters living in some unincorporated portions of the 258-square-mile district gave Wagner 1,958 votes over Sanchez, while Tustin voters cast 125 more ballots for Sanchez than Wagner. Some unincorporated territory was merged with city precincts for this election.

A big surprise came in Irvine, which twice elected Wagner mayor, in 2016 and 2018. This year, he lost the Irvine portion of the district to Sanchez by 2,500 votes. Wagner won 42 percent of the district-wide vote to 37.1 percent for Sanchez.

Wagner, an attorney who has served as a county Superior Court judge pro tem, has held two other public offices: 12-year trustee for the South Orange County Community College District and six-year member of the state Assembly.

The Yorba Linda vote in percentages: 51.4 for Wagner, 24.5 for Sanchez, 7.6 for former two-term Anaheim Councilwoman Kris Murray, 7.4 for retired county employee Larry Bales, 6.6 for former two-term Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly and 0.7 for Tustin attorney Katherine Daigle. District-wide placings were the same.

As expected, voter turnout was unimpressive – 21.1 percent district-wide. Yorba Linda turnout was 23.4 percent, topped by Villa Park's 32.4 percent and 26.6 percent in county territory, and followed by 21.6 percent in Orange, 20 percent in Anaheim, 19.1 percent in Irvine and 18.7 percent in Tustin.

Mail-in ballots were sent to 65.8 percent of Yorba Linda's registered voters, but only 29 percent were returned. Yorba Linda voters cast 80.4 percent of ballots by mail and 19.6 percent at precincts. District-wide ballots were 83 percent mail, 16.3 percent precinct and 0.7 percent early voting.

The position will be on the 2020 general election ballot for a full four-year term. Although nominally a non-partisan office, Republicans now hold four of the five supervisor slots.

The lone Democrat is former seven-year Fullerton Councilman Doug Chaffee, who represents the 4^th District that includes Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia and parts of Buena Park and Anaheim.

A related note: This election marks the last time voters will visit local precincts to cast ballots. Beginning in 2020, the county will have 188 vote centers to replace some 1,200 individual precincts.

The centers will open 10 days before an election, with voters able to cast ballots at any center. A computer data base will prevent people from voting twice in the same election.