Mayoral elections in Irvine, California

The 1988 mayoral election, held on June 7, was the first direct-election for mayor in the city's history. Larry Agran was re-elected. == 1990 ==

The 1990 election was held on June 5, 1990. Sally Anne Sheridan unseated incumbent mayor Larry Agran. == 1992 ==

The 1992 mayoral election, held on November 3, was the first Irvine mayoral election to be consolidated with the statewide general election (the two previous direct mayoral elections had instead been held coinciding with the statewide primary elections). Mike Ward was elected. == 1994 ==

The 1994 mayoral election was held on November 8. Mike Ward, who ran unopposed, was re-elected. == 1996 ==

The 1996 mayoral election was held on November 5. Christina L. Shea was elected. == 1998 ==

The 1998 mayoral election was held on November 3. Christina L. Shea, who ran unopposed, was re-elected. == 2000 ==

The 2000 mayoral election was held on November 7. Larry Agran, who had previously served two terms as mayor, ran unopposed and was elected. == 2002 ==

The 2002 mayoral election was held on November 5. Larry Agran was re-elected. == 2004 ==

The 2004 mayoral election was held on November 2. Beth Krom was elected. Among the candidates defeated by Krom was former mayor Mike Ward. == 2006 ==

The 2006 mayoral election was held on November 7. Beth Krom was re-elected. == 2008 ==

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. == 2010 ==

The 2010 mayoral election was held on November 2. Sukhee Kang was re-elected. == 2012 ==

The 2012 mayoral election was held on November 6. Steven Choi was elected. == 2014 ==

The 2014 mayoral election was held on November 4. Steven Choi was re-elected. == 2016 ==

The 2016 mayoral election was held on November 8. Donald P. Wagner was elected. == 2018 ==

The 2018 mayoral election was held on November 6. Donald P. Wagner was re-elected. == 2020 ==

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, 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 (party preference: Republican) • Luis Huang, solar engineer and advocate • Farrah Khan, business consultant and city council member (party preference: Democratic) • Christina Shea, incumbent mayor and former city council member (party preference: Republican) == 2022 ==

The 2022 mayoral election was held on November 8. Farrah Khan was re-elected. == 2024 ==

The 2024 mayoral election was held on November 5, 2024 and coincided with elections for city council. Incumbent mayor Farrah Khan, who was first sworn into office in 2020, cannot seek re-election due to term limits. Background Although Irvine's municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, candidates tend to associate themselves with either the Democratic or Republican Party. In March 2024, Khan lost to Wagner, who received greater than 50% of votes, avoiding a runoff election. 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. 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. Had the rule passed, Irvine would have been the largest city in the United States without a directly elected mayor. alongside serving as mayor for five non-consecutive two-year terms. 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 fellow mayoral contender Tammy Kim to call it a "slippery power grab" and ask Agran if "40 years on the city council [was] not enough". Candidates 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 • Akshat Bhatia, realtor • Wing Chow (Republican), retired Certified Public Accountant automation project manager • Tammy Kim (Democrat), Vice Mayor (2020–2021, 2022–present) of the Irvine City Council (2020–present) Endorsements Fundraising Results {{Election box begin no party no change Results by council district == See also ==