Exiting O.C. Supervisor Moorlach weighs state Senate run
After eight years on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and more than a decade before that as the county treasurer, John Moorlach now finds himself in the midst of emptying out his office.
But where exactly the Costa Mesa resident will be unpacking those boxes is yet to be determined.
Moorlach, 59, is mulling a run for state Senate to replace outgoing Sen. Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Niguel) of the 37th District.
Walters was elected in November to the 45th Congressional District, a seat held by U.S. Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine), who is retiring.
Moorlach, a Republican, ran for the 45th but dropped out in March.
He said in an interview Monday that he hasn’t made any official announcement of a Senate candidacy but has felt encouraged by supporters who want to see him serve in Sacramento.
“When you get that so many times, you think, ‘Maybe I ought to think about it,’” he said.
Moorlach’s supervisorial term ends Jan. 5. He was first elected in 2006 and served two four-year terms.
The date for a special election to replace Walters has not been decided yet.
Moorlach, who famously predicted the county’s bankruptcy in the 1990s before becoming its treasurer-tax collector, said he wants to see if his financial expertise could be of help in the state capital.
California is near the bottom of all 50 states when it comes to financial health, he said.
“Quite frankly, the state is not in the best shape,” Moorlach said. “We have a lot of movement to make.”
Toward the end of his eight years as a supervisor, he had considered running against incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown, though Moorlach said his gubernatorial bid was preliminary and didn’t go very far. He called it a “research project” more than a serious bid.
His race for the 45th Congressional District lasted several months, with hints of it as early as July 2013.
If Moorlach enters the race, he would face Assemblyman Don Wagner (R-Irvine), the only other known candidate for the 37th, a district that includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine and portions of Huntington Beach.
