County · Statewide General Election
Orange County Board of Supervisors, District 5
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
On the ballot
- Diane Dixon
- Katrina Foley — Incumbent
This person is one of five supervisors governing Orange County: the budget, county health and social services, and unincorporated-area land use.
Incumbent Katrina Foley and state Assemblymember Diane Dixon advance to a November runoff for south Orange County's seat on the Board of Supervisors: no candidate reached a majority in June's three-way primary, and the two finished within a fraction of a percentage point of each other (per LAist's results coverage). District 5 runs the coast from Costa Mesa to San Clemente, taking in parts of Irvine, the Laguna cities, Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, and unincorporated communities like Coto de Caza and Ladera Ranch.
The winner holds one of five seats governing Orange County — a board that oversees the county budget, public health and social services, and land use in the unincorporated communities (per LAist). A four-year term.
The seat is formally nonpartisan, but the runoff pairs a Democratic incumbent against a Republican legislator on a board where partisan balance is at stake, and June's near-tie means November's turnout decides it. The issues both campaigns name are concrete and local — beach erosion and sand replenishment, housing, mental-health services, and the county's budget strain after the Airport Fire payouts (per LAist).
Katrina Foley
Democrat, the incumbent and the board's vice chair. She won the seat in a 2021 special election and won re-election in 2022, after a long run in Costa Mesa politics — city council from 2004 to 2010, then mayor from 2018 to 2021 — and was the first Democratic woman elected to the board (per LAist).
Strengths
Five years in the seat and a long municipal record before it — council, mayor, then county vice chair — with two wins in this district behind her.
Trade-offs
June was nearly a dead heat with her challenger — incumbency did not produce a lead, so her record is contested ground, not a cushion.
Keep in mind
She has won this district under different conditions (a 2021 special, a 2022 general); the runoff tests whether that coalition holds in a higher-turnout partisan cycle.
Diane Dixon
Republican, the state Assemblymember for District 72 since 2022, and before that eight years on the Newport Beach City Council, including two terms as mayor (per LAist).
Strengths
Current legislative experience plus eight years of coastal-city governance — and a June result that pulled essentially even with a sitting supervisor.
Trade-offs
Her record is in Sacramento and Newport Beach, not county government — the board's health, social-services, and unincorporated-area portfolio would be new ground.
Keep in mind
A sitting Assemblymember running for county office gives up her Assembly seat to do it; her bet is that this district and June's numbers make the trade worth it.
Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 2 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with a narrow source base.
- ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters — Election results, June 2, 2026 primary
- laist.com (opens in a new tab)LAist — OC Board of Supervisors District 5 race guide (updated July 1, 2026)
Last updated August 21, 2026.