DON WAGNER
A life committed to Family, Service, Leadership
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Donald P. Wagner is the oldest of Don and Paula Wagner’s four children. In the mid-sixties, the Wagner family moved to the San Fernando Valley, then to Tennessee, finally returning to California to stay when Don was 12 years old.
He met his future wife, Megan, at their public high school in Ventura County. Megan and Don both attended UCLA, where Don received his Bachelor of Arts degree. Don earned his Juris Doctor from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. Coming of political age during Ronald Reagan's presidency, Don understood the importance and allure of robust personal liberty and opportunity. He also saw firsthand what it took to bring the nation back to its feet after the malaise of the Carter years with its long gas lines, high taxes, and international crises.
In 1987, Don began his legal career as a business lawyer at a Los Angeles and Orange County law firm. In 1993, Don started his own firm, Wagner, Lautsch LLP, advising business and real estate clients. Don served on several committees for the Orange County Bar Association and as a Judge Pro-Tempore in the Orange County Superior Court. He also founded and served as the first President of the OC Chapter of the Federalist Society, a national organization of lawyers, judges, and law professors that promotes judicial integrity and strict adherence to the US Constitution. Don was elected in 1998 as a member of the South County Community College District Board of Trustees. Of his twelve years on the Board, Don served six as Board President, where he balanced every budget and paid off all debts without raising taxes or burdening the public with bonds.
From 2010 to 2016, Don was elected to serve in the California State Assembly. As a member of the State Assembly, Don Wagner served on numerous committees such as Aging and Long-Term Care, Appropriations, Budget, Education, and as Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee. On the financial committees, Don oversaw all state spending and revenue, quickly earning a reputation for expertise in government fiscal affairs.
In 2016, he was elected Mayor of Irvine. In 2017, Mayor Wagner fulfilled his promise to the citizens of Irvine and led the effort to build out the Great Park after $200 million had been wasted under prior city councils. Because of Don’s leadership, the Great Park is now home to world-class sports and cultural amenities.
Don served as Mayor until 2019 when he was elected to the OC Board of Supervisors. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Board from 2022 to 2023 and Chairman from 2023 to January 2025. Shortly after taking office in 2019, Supervisor Wagner brought together multiple entities to reopen Irvine Lake for shoreline fishing, without additional cost to taxpayers and after the lake had been closed for three years. The Orange County Register named him one of OC’s Most Influential People in recognition for his leadership. In 2020, Don identified and allocated funding to process a 30-year backlog of sexual assault evidence kits at the County of Orange, which led to the prosecution of a longtime sex offender and the identification of perpetrators on national sex offender registries and the processing of over 1,500 backlogged rape kits which was completed by the fall of 2021. Evidencing his ability to work across the aisle while holding onto his conservative values, Don was elected twice to the position of Board Chairman by a Democratic-controlled body. Don has been credited with numerous “promises made and promises kept” accomplishments.
Don's most important public project, begun during his time in the legislature and continuing now on the Board of Supervisors, is to ensure that Orange County is home to a Military Cemetery for all those who have worn our country’s uniform and given so much to us all. In addition to his work, Wagner serves on the board of Angel Force USA which is dedicated to raising awareness about suicide in the military.
Don has served on numerous boards and commissions during his service to Orange County including the Fire Authority, Transportation Authority, Southern California Assoc. of Governments, and the Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, giving him a breadth of knowledge and experience in issues that affect the day-to-day lives of all Californians.
A recent cancer survivor, Don has consistently demonstrated a can-do attitude and belief in addressing problems head-on. He aggressively works to find agreement where possible though has never been one to “go along to get along”. Don believes the key to good governance is to look for common ground and not make policy disputes personal. But while Don is always willing to listen to and work with people of all viewpoint, he is not willing to compromise his core values in the name of political expediency.
Don and Megan, now married over 40 years, raised and educated three children in the Orange County public school system. Don and Megan coached youth baseball, softball, and soccer and held leadership roles in a youth swim league and Indian Guides and Indian Princesses. They are now the grandparents of two and are avid babysitters. While they are passionate UCLA sports fans, Don roots for the Angels and Ducks, but also for the Dodgers given his time in Los Angeles and the Steelers from his hometown of Pittsburgh. An English major with a robust grounding in the classics and a love of history, Don is an avid reader, having cruised through War & Peace twice, and all of Shakespeare. His approach to governance is summarized in a quote from Leviticus which is inscribed on the Liberty Bell:
“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
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Paid for by Wagner for Secretary of State 2026 FPPC# 1482695