The Orange County Board of Supervisors is guaranteed at least a bit of fresh representation this election cycle, as four candidates with civic leadership experience will contest for the open Fourth District seat occupied by outgoing Supervisor Doug Chaffee.

Buena Park Mayor Connor Traut, Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung, Board of Education trustee Tim Shaw and former La Habra Councilmember Rose Espinoza are running to represent the district, which covers North County cities and surrounding unincorporated areas.

Chaffee, who was first elected to the board in 2018, is termed out and unable to seek reelection. Though the five-member governing body is nonpartisan, Chaffee was the first Democrat in 12 years to hold a seat. Democrats won a majority representation of the board in 2022, ending decades of Republican control.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the June 2 primary, the top two vote-getters will proceed to a November runoff. County supervisors, who oversee a $9.3 billion budget and 18,000 employees, are limited to two four-year lifetime terms.

For the two other supervisor seats on the 2026 ballot, the incumbents face stiff competition from some experienced challengers.

Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley will run for reelection against Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, and Lucy Vellema, an educator in the Newport-United School District.

This district represents Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa and several beach cities.

Santa Ana Councilmember Nelida Mendoza, commercial decorator James Wallace and businessowner Kimberly Davis are challenging Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento.

District 2 represents Santa Ana, and parts of Garden Grove, Anaheim and Orange.

The window to file for supervisor and other county seats closed Friday, March 6. Altogether, more than two dozen candidates for county office have qualified for the ballot.

In the contest for treasurer-tax collector, incumbent Shari Freidenrich will run against her former top deputy, Dana Schultz.

Freidenrich’s tenure has been marked by controversy, with the board voting in February 2025 to strip her authority to manage the county’s $17 billion investment pool. Freidenrich attempted to fire Schultz in January, just days after the latter filed papers to run for her seat. County CEO Michelle Aguirre intervened to stop the firing.

Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen will seek to retain his seat against Maria Holly Barraza, who listed her profession on the candidate filing form as “criminal justice professional.”

In the race for OC Superintendent of Schools, public school educator Jeff Cole will challenge incumbent Stefan Bean. The Board of Education unanimously appointed Bean to the seat in 2024, to replace longtime superintendent Al Mijares.

One Board of Education seat is up for grabs. College board advisor Jason Sams is running against incumbent Lisa Sparks in the Board of Education Trustee Area 5 race.

Area 2 Trustee Mari Barke, who is up for reelection, is running unopposed and will not appear on the ballot.

In the race for tax assessor, La Palma Councilmember Janet Keo Conklin will challenge incumbent Claude Parrish.

Meanwhile, Auditor-Controller Andrew Hamilton is unopposed in his reelection bid. The contest will be included on the ballot, and voters will be able to select Hamilton or a qualified write-in candidate.