As ballots go out this week in the upcoming mid-term election here in Orange County, residents will increasingly scramble to find information about a host of local politicians and ballot initiatives.
That’s not always easy.
These days, it’s rare to see face-to-face debates among candidates in high stakes races such as this year’s county supervisors’ election, which will decide whether the panel skews Republican or Democrat.
We live in an era where politicians, increasingly financed by special interests, are too cowardly to take real questions from reporters, instead preferring to use taxpayer-funded newsletters in the case of incumbents or just plain old hit mail to confuse voters with misinformation about their voting or policy records.
That’s why our reporters got ahead this year and sent out a series of questions to all supervisor campaigns earlier this month.
We’ll see who answers.
Topics range from the transparency of the county budget to the search for a new county CEO to discretionary spending accounts to opinions on whether county supervisors’ calendars of meetings should be made public.
In addition, we’ve asked county supervisor candidates to answer a series of district-specific questions – such as roads in the Fourth District and l
andfills in the Fifth District.
We’ll be running these Q&A stories over the next two weeks.
And thanks to some recent website enhancements we rolled out earlier this month, these stories will all be archived on the Voice of OC Elections Page, which readers should bookmark as the page will be constantly updated with the most recent stories, including Election Night coverage.
Voice of OC Helps Moderate Debates in Irvine and Costa Mesa
I’ve also agreed to moderate one of Irvine’s biggest seasonal election debates, through the work of a series of engaged residents from Irvine Watchdog and the Southcoast Chinese Cultural Center in Irvine (which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary).
That forum will take place Oct. 17 at the cultural center at 9 Truman in Irvine from 2:30 to 5:30 pm.
In addition, I’ll be helping Resilience OC, Costa Mesa Mutual Aid, Lucha Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Unidos, Underground Grit, CHAMOY, Project Kinship, and OC Action organize a candidates forum at the Norma Hertzog Community Center in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 15 from 6:00–8:00 pm.
I’ll also be helping moderate another forum with Resilience OC, Esperanza Union de Inclinos and Latino Health Access on Oct. 19 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for Santa Ana candidates at the Delhi Center at 505 E Central Ave.
Organizers are still working to secure participation from all candidates.
Debates can be a tricky thing to organize because their value weakens if every candidate running isn’t participating. And oftentimes, forums can be boring because candidates get asked stale questions and just use the opportunity to repeat their talking points.
After logging so many election cycles as a journalist, I’ve become convinced it says a lot about communities that are able to build a civic tradition around insisting candidates stand next to each other, debate and take community questions before Election Day.
Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending two really interesting election panels sponsored by the community group, Comm-Link and the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.
Both offered a good sense of the differences between candidates because residents were able to hear from them in their own words.
The OC Forum and the OC Public Affairs Association are hosting an election forum with the possibility of audience questions on Oct. 9 at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. However, I am hearing that the candidates won’t be appearing together in a debate format.
Creek Team activists have been reaching out to campaigns for State Senate and Assembly as well as the Fifth District in South County with the hopes of organizing a forum but reportedly haven’t been able to lock in participation from incumbents, except Katrina Foley, who they say agreed to debate, anywhere, anytime.
Meanwhile, they told me her Republican challenger Diane Dixon sent the message that she won’t debate face-to-face.
I sent Dixon and Foley a text to confirm these details but didn’t hear back from either one.
Where to Watch Candidates Up Close
Here’s a running tally of cities where residents can see some sort of election panel featuring participation from candidates vying for office. If you are sponsoring a forum and don’t see it listed here, contact us and we’ll add your event to the list.
The League of Women Voters North Orange County is hosting a series of candidate forums.
Today, the League is hosting a candidate forum from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at Fullerton College in Cruz Reynoso Hall, 321 East Chapman Ave.
On Oct. 7, the league will host a forum for the Placentia City Council election candidates in the Placentia city council chambers from 6 pm to 7:30 pm., 401 E. Chapman Avenue.
On Oct. 8, the league will host a forum for the Buena Park City Council from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Buena Park City Council Chambers.
In Orange, the Old Towne Preservation Association (OTPA) Candidate Forum will also be held on October 8, 2026 starting at 6:00 pm at the American Legion Hall, 143 S. Lemon St., Old Towne Orange, CA.
Back in August, the Orange Chamber of Commerce sponsored an election panel with city council candidates moderated by former County Supervisor Gaddi Vazquez, which can be seen on Youtube.
On Oct. 13, Canyon Democrats are sponsoring a candidate forum for Lake Forest at the Sun and Sail Club, starting at 6:30 pm at 24752 Toledo Way.
On Oct. 15, the League of Women Voters is also hosting an election forum at the Brea City Council chambers from 6:30 pm to 8 pm, at 1 Civic Center Circle.
That same day, In Mission Viejo, the local chamber of commerce is sponsoring an election forum from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center at 24932 Veterans Way.
On Oct. 21, the League of Women Voters is hosting an election forum in the La Habra City Council chambers from 6 to 7:30 pm, 110 E. La Habra Blvd.
Norberto Santana, Jr. is the Publisher and Editor in Chief for Voice of OC. He can be contacted atnsantana@voiceofoc.org.
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