{"id":2687,"date":"2026-05-08T14:32:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=2687"},"modified":"2026-05-08T14:32:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:32:22","slug":"here-are-the-four-candidates-running-for-the-district-2-oc-board-of-supervisors-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=2687","title":{"rendered":"Here are the four candidates running for the District 2 OC Board of Supervisors seat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Affordability, public safety and accountability in government spending are top concerns voiced by the four candidates vying to represent Orange County\u2019s Second District on the Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

Read more Four candidates seek open OC Board of Supervisor seat in District 4<\/a><\/p>\n

Incumbent Vicente Sarmiento is running for reelection against former Santa Ana City Council colleague Nelida Mendoza, Air Force veteran-turned-entrepreneur Kimberly Davis and commercial decorator James Wallace.<\/p>\n

Created during the 2021 redistricting process as OC\u2019s first Latino majority district, the Second District includes Santa Ana and parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange and Tustin.<\/p>\n

Also:<\/strong> Check out our Orange County Register voter guide.<\/p>\n

Davis, the only first-time candidate in the race, said she\u2019s running for office to prevent another corruption scandal following the disgrace of former Supervisor Andrew Do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people don\u2019t believe in politicians,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll give you some real answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drawing on her experience as a federal analyst, Davis said she would want to establish a task force consisting of \u201chonest people with integrity\u201d to conduct regular audits of county-funded services, especially family court and Child Protective Services. In addition, she would create public-facing dashboards to display what programs are being funded and, more importantly, how that money is being spent.<\/p>\n

These efforts, Davis said, would hopefully put a \u201cBand-Aid on public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Davis said she would take a similar approach to tackling the county\u2019s affordable housing crisis: tracking the programs that are effectively moving people into permanent housing, then allocating funding appropriately. She would also push for stronger coordination between the county, cities and service providers so that resources are not duplicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want that first year to be nothing but auditing,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving those audits will show we\u2019re doing something to make sure your money is accounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza, a retired paralegal and trustee of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, said the most pressing issues for the district\u2019s constituents are the rising cost of living and public safety.<\/p>\n

She would support increased funding for rental assistance programs, she said, while having the county partner with cities and developers to build more affordable housing. At the same time, she said she would push for more job training programs to get people back to work.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe bottom line is to ensure regional collaboration with all Orange County cities rather than trying to work alone in District 2,\u201d she said. \u201cI intend to build a program that maximizes coordination of where low-income housing and shelters are built to ensure equal distribution within the county of Orange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza likened a supervisor\u2019s responsibilities to \u201cbeing a think tank all the time,\u201d from initiating and overseeing programs to regularly checking in with constituents. She said she wants to increase funding for the Sheriff\u2019s Department and add more deputies to the force to address public safety concerns brought up to her by residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy focusing on safety, shelter and food, I know we\u2019ll have a much stronger District 2,\u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

Sarmiento, who was elected to the seat in 2022 after serving as Santa Ana mayor, said rising cost of living and housing affordability are the most urgent needs among District 2\u2019s many renters, immigrants and seniors. If elected to a second term, he said he plans to introduce an economic development division at the county to generate additional investments and jobs for residents. He said he also wants to develop more child care provider services for parents.<\/p>\n

Read more Federal appeals court ruling could save county millions in Chino Airport cleanup costs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very few childcare centers available to mothers with infants and that really depresses the workforce and job-seeking opportunities,\u201d Sarmiento said.<\/p>\n

To increase the county\u2019s affordable housing inventory, Sarmiento proposed developing small-scale, factory-built homes that he said can be erected much more quickly and affordably than traditionally constructed models.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cost-effective, faster, short-term solution that can get people into their own individual units rather than keeping them for years in congregant shelters,\u201d he said, noting that only 12% of people living in county shelters transition to non-congregate housing due to a lack of permanent housing.<\/p>\n

Sarmiento acknowledged concerns about government transparency and said he\u2019s called for sunshine efforts such as publicly disclosed calendars that reveal who board members are meeting and why. He also supported amending the county\u2019s ethics ordinance to give the inspector generals broader subpoena and investigative powers.<\/p>\n

Wallace, who made a 2022 run for the state Assembly, said the supervisors\u2019 controversial decision to give themselves a 25% raise last year helped push him to run for the district seat. (Supervisor Katrina Foley was opposed and Supervisor Doug Chaffee and Sarmiento later said they would donate their raises to charity.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least for our county, I just feel that our local elected officials let us down in a lot of ways,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace, who works in the trade show industry, said as someone who works a blue-collar job, he can bring new ideas and \u201ccommon sense\u201d back to the board while showing constituents that he\u2019ll listen to their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public is ready for fresh faces to represent them and bring a renewed sense of energy,\u201d he said,<\/p>\n

The \u201challmark\u201d of his campaign, Wallace said, is protecting election integrity. To restore trust in local elections, he said he would push for a return to paper ballots and vote to reject the California Voter\u2019s Choice Act, the 2016 law that allows voters to cast a ballot at any vote center within their county.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor elections to have bigger turnouts, people need to trust the system,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to go back to neighborhood voting like how it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors, the county\u2019s five-member governing body, oversees a budget of nearly $11 billion and 18,000 employees across various departments, including public health, public safety, social services, animal care and public works.<\/p>\n

Unless one candidate garners more than 50% of votes in the June 2 primary to outright win the seat, the top two vote-getters will move on to the November general election ballot.<\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors is nonpartisan, but Democrats hold a large registration advantage in District 2 with 46% of voters, compared to nearly 24% each for Republicans and those not affiliated with a party, according to data from the OC Registrar of Voters.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Gas station heroin\u2019 can be deadly, but it\u2019s just a mouse click away<\/a><\/p>\n

Ballots were mailed to all registered voters earlier this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incumbent Vicente Sarmiento is running for reelection against former Santa Ana City Council colleague Nelida Mendoza, Air Force veteran-turned-entrepreneur Kimberly Davis and commercial decorator James Wallace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHere are the four candidates running for the District 2 OC Board of Supervisors seat - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=2687\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here are the four candidates running for the District 2 OC Board of Supervisors seat - 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