Less than 100 days out from Election Day, Orange County’s current and possibly future supervisors are bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on their campaigns.
It’s an election that could reshape the board, with three supervisor seats up for grabs including one open seat in north Orange County.
So far, candidates have spent over half a million dollars altogether on their campaigns as of the end of 2025, and are sitting on a combined $1.4 million ahead of the June 2 Primary Election.
Large Spending in North County’s Open Seat
Most of the money going into Orange County’s elections this year is aimed at the Fourth District Supervisor race, which is set to be an open race when Supervisor Doug Chaffee retires at the end of this year.
The district covers cities including Anaheim, Fullerton, Brea, Placentia, Buena Park.
So far, Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung is leading the pack for fundraising, with nearly $355,000 still in the bank as of the end of last year.
He’s also spending more than the other candidates, disclosing over $71,000 in expenses over last year according to campaign disclosures.
He’s followed by Buena Park Mayor Connor Traut, who’s sitting on just under $225,000 and has spent over $50,000 advertising his campaign. Traut has also been endorsed by the county Democratic Party.
La Habra Councilwoman Rose Espinoza currently has around $160,000 in her campaign account, most of it from a $150,000 loan she gave her campaign account.
Board of Education Trustee Tim Shaw is currently holding around $69,000 in his account, and has spent about $14,000. He’s endorsed by the Orange County Republican Party and last ran for the seat in 2018, when he lost to Chaffee.
The top two candidates in the June primary will move to a runoff election in November unless one of the candidates wins over half the vote.
Supervisor Squares off With Assemblywoman
Supervisor Katrina Foley is running for reelection in the county’s Fifth District, covering cities including Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, San Clemente and parts of Irvine.
So far, she’s spent over $188,000 on her reelection effort, leaving around $285,000 still in her account for the rest of the race. She’s endorsed by the local Democratic Party.
Her biggest opponent is Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, who outraised Foley by over $50,000 in the last six months of 2025.
Despite that fundraising, Dixon has not yet formally filed to run for Foley’s seat.
Foley still had more money overall from previous fundraising efforts.
So far, Dixon has spent over $167,000 on her campaign, and has $135,000 still in the bank.
If one of them wins over 50% of the vote in the primary election, they will not proceed to a runoff in November.
While Dixon hadn’t formally filed to run for the seat as of Friday, the Orange County Republican Party has already taken aim at Foley, questioning her recent decisions on the proposed expansion of the Prima Deshecha landfill.
[Read: Expansion of County Landfill Turns Into Hot Button Campaign Issue]
Second District Supervisor Only Candidate Spending Money
So far, Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento is the only candidate in the Second District to spend money on the election.
He spent $43,000 on his campaign last year and fundraised over $437,000, most of which came from his own money that he loaned to the campaign.
Sarmiento’s running with the endorsement of the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party has not endorsed anyone to run against him.
While there are other candidates running against Sarmiento, none of them disclosed any fundraising for their campaigns as of the end of last year.
County’s Biggest Spenders Stay Out So Far
So far, none of the county’s employee unions, which are usually the biggest spenders in county elections, have thrown money behind any of the candidates.
But many of them have disclosed large campaign warchests heading into election year, with the sheriffs leading the pack at over $1.8 million in the bank.
They’re followed by the county employees union, which has $325,000 in the bank.
The Lincoln Club, a group of conservative donors that ordinarily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on supervisor races, have yet to spend in the election yet either.
They were sitting on over $270,000 as of the end of last year.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
