In 2000 Krom first ran for public office as a candidate for the Irvine City Council. Out of a field of eleven candidates, she came in third, winning a two-year term. In 2002, she won re-election to the City Council as the top vote-getter and
in 2004 she won her first term as Mayor of Irvine.
In 2006, Beth Krom was re-elected with almost 60% of the vote, the largest margin of victory for any Mayor in a competitive race to that point in the city’s history. During her term as Mayor, Irvine was recognized as the Safest Big City in America four years in a row and earned recognition as one of the “100 Best Communities for Young People” twice. In addition, the city’s “rainy day reserves” were tripled to more than $30 million during her term. Krom and fellow council member Larry Agran led the fight to defeat a plan to turn the abandoned El Toro Marine Corps base into a commercial airport. That land is now the site of the Orange County Great Park, as well as residential housing. In 2006, Krom was invited to give a
commencement address at the
University of California, Irvine for the combined schools of Education, Fine Arts and Physical Sciences. In 2008, with term limits preventing her from running for a third term as Mayor, Krom was again elected to the Irvine City Council, earning the first place spot with a lead of more than 8000 votes over the second-place finisher. ==2010 U.S. House campaign==