Mayoral elections in Irvine, California
Mayoral elections in Irvine, California, are held every two years.
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The first direct-election for mayor in the city’s history was held in 1988. All such elections have been held under state laws that make municipal elections in California officially non-partisan.
1988 Irvine mayoral election
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The 1988 mayoral election, held on June 7, was the first direct-election for mayor in the city's history.[1] Larry Agran was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Agran (incumbent) | 15,651 | 57.0 | |
| Barry J. Hammond | 8,707 | 31.7 | |
| Hal Maloney | 3,111 | 11.3 | |
| Total votes | 27,469 | ||
1990 Irvine mayoral election
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The 1990 election was held on June 5, 1990. Sally Anne Sheridan unseated incumbent mayor Larry Agran.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sally Anne Sheridan | 14,256 | 51.2 | |
| Larry Agran (incumbent) | 13,584 | 48.8 | |
| Total votes | 27,840 | ||
1992 Irvine mayoral election
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The 1992 mayoral election, held on November 3, was the first Irvine mayoral election to be consolidated with the statewide general election[1] (the two previous direct mayoral elections had instead been held coinciding with the statewide primary elections). Mike Ward was elected.[1]
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Ward | 16,435 | 37.3 | |
| Marc Goldstone | 11,730 | 26.6 | |
| Helen T. Cameron | 11,204 | 25.4 | |
| Les Racey | 1,973 | 4.5 | |
| Al Nasser | 1,699 | 3.9 | |
| David Fondots | 1,032 | 2.3 | |
| Total votes | 44,073 | ||
1994 Irvine mayoral election
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The 1994 mayoral election was held on November 8. Mike Ward, who ran unopposed, was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Ward (incumbent) | 26,055 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 26,055 | 100 | |
1996 Irvine mayoral election
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The 1996 mayoral election was held on November 5. Christina L. Shea was elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christina L. Shea (incumbent) | 19,479 | 49.8 | |
| Sally Anne Sheridan | 11,537 | 29.5 | |
| Paul Johnson | 4,747 | 12.1 | |
| Guy E. Mailly | 3,314 | 8.5 | |
| Total votes | 39,077 | 100 | |
1998 Irvine mayoral election
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The 1998 mayoral election was held on November 3. Christina L. Shea, who ran unopposed, was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christina L. Shea (incumbent) | 29,067 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 29,067 | 100 | |
2000 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2000 mayoral election was held on November 7. Larry Agran, who had previously served as two terms as mayor, ran unopposed and was elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Agran | 34,905 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 34,905 | ||
2002 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2002 mayoral election was held on November 5. Larry Agran was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Agran (incumbent) | 19,886 | 53.4 | |
| Mike House | 17,358 | 46.6 | |
| Total votes | 37,244 | ||
2004 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2004 mayoral election was held on November 2. Beth Krom was elected. Among the candidates defeated by Krom was former mayor Mike Ward.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Krom | 26,157 | 44.0 | |
| Mike Ward | 24,153 | 40.6 | |
| Earle Zucht | 4,984 | 8.4 | |
| Ronald Eugene Allen | 4,171 | 7.0 | |
| Total votes | 59,465 | ||
2006 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2006 mayoral electionwas held on November 7. Beth Krom was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Krom (incumbent) | 26,082 | 59.6 | |
| John Duong | 17,657 | 40.4 | |
| Total votes | 43,739 | ||
2008 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2010 mayoral election was held on November 4. Sukhee Kang was elected, becoming the first Korean American mayor of a major U.S. city. He defeated former mayor Christina L. Shea.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sukhee Kang | 38,505 | 52.0 | |
| Christina L. Shea | 35,481 | 48.0 | |
| Total votes | 73,986 | ||
2010 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2010 mayoral election was held on November 2. Sukhee Kang was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sukhee Kang (incumbent) | 36,634 | 64.1 | |
| Christopher Gonzalez | 19,383 | 35.9 | |
| Total votes | 54,017 | ||
2012 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2012 mayoral election was held on November 6. Steven Choi was elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Choi | 32,505 | 45.7 | |
| Larry Agran | 28,741 | 40.4 | |
| Katherine Daigle | 9,951 | 13.9 | |
| Total votes | 71,197 | ||
2014 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2014 mayoral election was held on November 4. Steven Choi was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Choi (incumbent) | 18,333 | 45.4 | |
| Mary Ann Gaido | 17,380 | 43.0 | |
| Katherine Daigle | 4,698 | 11.6 | |
| Total votes | 40,411 | ||
2016 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2016 mayoral election was held on November 8. Donald P. Wagner was elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald P. Wagner | 30,002 | 37.7 | |
| Mary Ann Gaido | 26,278 | 33.0 | |
| Gang Chen | 11,816 | 14.8 | |
| Katherine Daigle | 8,299 | 10.4 | |
| David Chey | 3,206 | 4.0 | |
| Total votes | 79,601 | ||
2018 Irvine mayoral election
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 Results by county supervisorial district Wagner: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2018 mayoral election was held on November 6. Donald P. Wagner was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald P. Wagner (incumbent) | 35,592 | 45.3% | |
| Ed Pope | 24,682 | 31.4% | |
| Katherine Daigle | 13,018 | 16.6% | |
| Ing Tiong | 5,341 | 6.8% | |
| Total votes | 78,633 | 100% | |
2020 Irvine mayoral election
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| Turnout | 80.24%[1]  17.82 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2020 mayoral election was held on November 3. Mayor Pro Tem Christina Shea, who had taken office on April 13, 2019, when Mayor Donald P. Wagner vacated the seat after winning a special election to the Orange County Board of Supervisors,[2] lost the seat to Councilwoman Farrah Khan, the first Democrat to be elected since 2010.
Declared candidates:
- Katherine Daigle, small business owner and perennial candidate[3] (Party preference: Republican)
- Luis Huang, solar engineer and advocate.[3] (Party preference: Democratic)[4]
- Farrah Khan, business consultant and city council member.[3] (Party preference: Democratic)
- Christina Shea, incumbent mayor and former city council member.[3] (Party preference: Republican)
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farrah N. Khan | 56,304 | 47.56% | |
| Christina L. Shea (incumbent) | 42,738 | 36.10% | |
| Luis Huang | 9,684 | 8.18% | |
| Katherine Daigle | 9,654 | 8.16% | |
| Total votes | 118,380 | 100.00% | |
2022 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2022 mayoral election was held on November 8. Farrah Khan was re-elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farrah N. Khan (incumbent) | 29,370 | 37.8% | |
| Branda Lin | 21,396 | 27.5% | |
| Simon Moon | 14,742 | 19.0% | |
| Katherine Daigle | 7,126 | 9.2% | |
| Total votes | 77,730 | 100.00% | |
2024 Irvine mayoral election
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The 2024 mayoral election will be held on November 5, 2024.[6] Incumbent mayor Farrah Khan, who was first sworn into office in 2020 is prevented from seeking re-election by term limits.[7]
Background
Although Irvine's municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, candidates tend to associate themselves with either the Democratic Party or Republican Party.[6] In July 2023, term-limited incumbent mayor Farrah Khan had announced that she would run for the third district seat of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.[8]
In June 2022, ahead of the 2022 mayoral election, councilmembers Tammy Kim and Mike Carroll had introduced an agenda item to the Irvine City Council, which would have removed the mayoral seat from the ballot and switched it to an office appointed by the city council.[9] Kim alleged that she had never endorsed the move to change the seat, and had only agreed to serve as a second on the motion vote in exchange for Carroll's support for a different motion on the agenda. The day before the meeting, Carroll had attempted to pull the agenda-setting rule off the agenda following "strong public backlash", including official condemnation from the Orange County Democratic Party; nonetheless, it was brought to a vote and the city councilmembers voted to repeal the rule.[10] Had the rule passed, Irvine would have been the largest city in the United States without a directly elected mayor.[9]
In 2014, Irvine voters had approved a rule to its city charter such that councilmembers and the mayors can serve no more than two full 2 year terms for life.[6] Agran is one of the longest serving city council members in Orange County, having served for over three decades on and off the city council since 1978,[11] alongside serving as mayor for five non-consecutive 2 year terms.[12] In December 2022, Agran had resigned with a week left on his term in order to run for another four years on the city council, which prompted his colleague and now-fellow mayoral contender Tammy Kim to call it a "slippery power grab" and asking Agran if "40 years on the city council [was] not enough".[13]
Declared
- Larry Agran (Democrat), at-large Irvine City Councilor (2022–present), former mayor of Irvine (1982–1984, 1986–1990, 2000–2004), and 1992 Democratic presidential candidate[14]
- Tammy Kim (Democrat), Vice Mayor (2020–2021, 2022–present) of the Irvine City Council (2020–present)[7]
Endorsements
- U.S. Representatives
- Judy Chu, CA-28 (2009–present)[15]
- Andy Kim, NJ-3 (2019–present)[15]
- Grace Meng, NY-6 (2013–present)[15]
- Katie Porter, CA-47 (2019–present)[16]
- Brad Sherman, CA-32 (1997–present)[15]
- Statewide officials
- John Chiang, former California State Treasurer (2015–2019)[15]
- Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer (2019–present)[15]
- Betty Yee, California Democratic Party vice chair (2021–present) and former California State Controller (2015–2023)[7]
- State senators
- State assemblymembers
- Mike Eng, AD-49 (2006–2012)[7]
- Ash Kalra, AD-25 (2016–present)[15]
- Mike Fong, AD-49 (2022–present)[15]
- Evan Low, AD-49 (2014–present)[15]
- Cottie Petrie-Norris, AD-73 (2018–present)[15]
- Sharon Quirk-Silva, AD-65 (2012–2014, 2016–present)[15]
- Municipal officials
- Doug Chaffee, Orange County Supervisor from the 4th district (2019–present)[7]
- Katrina Foley, Orange County Supervisor from the 5th district (2021–present)[7]
- Local officials
- Joyce Ahn, Buena Park city councilor (2022–present)[7]
- Ashleigh Aitken, mayor of Anaheim (2022–present)[7]
- Valerie Amezcua, mayor of Santa Ana (2022–present)[15]
- Kim Bernice Nguyen, Garden Grove city councilor (2016–present)[7]
- Fred Jung, mayor of Fullerton (2022–present)[15]
- Sukhee Kang, former mayor of Irvine (2008–2012)[15]
- John Lee, Los Angeles City Councilor from the 12th district (2019–present) (Independent)[7]
- Paul Seo, Rancho Palos Verdes city councilor (2022–present)[15]
- Kathleen Treseder, Irvine City Councilor (2022–present) and ecologist[15]
Results
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Agran | |||
| Tammy Kim | |||
| Total votes | |||
References
- "Municipal Election History 1971 to Present". Irvine City Clerk's Office. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
- Robinson, Alicia (2019-03-27). "Irvine Councilwoman Christina Shea set to take Don Wagner's place as mayor". The Orange County Register.
- Robinson, Alicia (2020-10-10). "Three challenge Irvine mayor for seat in Nov. 3 election". The Orange County Register.
- "Luis Manuel Huang // Assembly District #68 // PDN: Progressive Delegates Network". www.adems2021.vote. Progressive Delegates Network. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- "Current Election Results". OC Vote. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- Petersen, Carl. "General Municipal Election - November 5, 2024". City of Irvine. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- "Vice Mayor Tammy Kim Announces Candidacy For Irvine Mayor". OC Independent. February 4, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Torres, Destiny (July 22, 2023). "Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan launches bid for seat on Board of Supervisors". The Orange County Register. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Biesiada, Noah (June 23, 2022). "Irvine City Council Looks To Limit Mayoral Power Ahead of Election". Voice of OC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Biesiada, Noah (July 5, 2022). "Irvine Council Leaves Mayor On Ballot and Reverses Controversial Agenda Setting Rules". Voice of OC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Foxhall, Emily (November 5, 2014). "Irvine voters oust Larry Agran, a decades-long fixture". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Farzan, Yusra (December 6, 2022). "Larry Agran resigns, temporarily, from the Irvine City Council". The Orange County Register. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Biesiada, Noah (December 6, 2022). "Irvine City Councilman Resigns for a Week To Skirt Term Limit Rules". Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- "Irvine Councilman Larry Agran Announces Mayoral Campaign". Irvine Community News and Views. May 2, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Chmielewski, Dan (February 2, 2023). "Tammy Kim announces [campaign] for Irvine mayor: Kim's early endorsers include Irvine's State Senator, State Assemblymember, and County Supervisor". The Liberal OC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Chmielewski, Dan (March 13, 2023). "Katie Porter endorses Tammy Kim for Mayor". The Liberal OC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.