Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, a Republican, has announced she will run for the 5th Supervisor District in 2026, seeking to unseat first-term Supervisor Katrina Foley, a Democrat.
“Orange County has suffered from far too many corruption scandals in recent years and we have seen millions of tax dollars meant to help people, diverted for personal use or to advance personal agendas,” said Dixon in a press release issued today. “We need to clean up county government and demand accountability.
“My opponent, Katrina Foley, ran on a platform of reducing homelessness and fighting crime, yet homelessness and crime are both higher today than when she took office. It’s time for a new approach and new ideas,” Dixon said.
The 5th District has the most voters of the five supervisor districts – 436,228 – and is the most heavily Republican. The voter registration breakdown is 38.1% Republican, 32.8% Democrat and 22.1% No Party Preference.
Currently, the Orange County Board of Supervisors has a Democratic majority for the first time since the 1970s. A Dixon defeat of Foley would restore a Republican majority – the other GOP supervisors being Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen.
Incumbent Doug Chaffee is termed out of the 4th Supervisor District in 2026; if Republicans pull of a win in that Democrat-leaning district, left-wing Supervisor Vince Sarmiento would be the only Democrat on the Board.
Republicans appear determined to avoid the expensive internecine bloodletting of 2022, when the OC GOP endorsed former Diane Harkey, a former Assemblywoman and Board of Equalization member, while the Lincoln Club of Orange County recruited retiring state Senator Pat Bates. Another Republican, Newport Beach Councilman Kevin Muldoon, also ran, ignoring polling showing he couldn’t make the run-off.
Democrats united behind Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley and ran a strong coordinated campaign with Rep. Katie Porter. Foley narrowly defeated Bates, 51.3% to 48.7%.
At last week’s meeting of the Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Will O’Neill laid down a marker, declaring the broader Republican party is united behind Dixon. He warned that any other Republican who jumps into the race will have no political future in the party.
Dixon held an announcement reception yesterday, emceed by immediate past OC GOP Chairman Fred Whitaker and both the outgoing and incoming presidents of the Lincoln Club.
Before being elected to the Assembly in 2022, Diane Dixon had been a member of the Newport Beach City Council for eight years. She spent 40 years in the private sector as a business executive before being elected to that post. She recently received an “A” rating from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association for her efforts on behalf of taxpayers.
