Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach has put together a campaign team to go after an open seat for the 37th State Senate District.
The state senate seat opened up in November when former State Senator Mimi Walters won a seat in Congress. She is replacing former Congressman John Campbell, who abruptly announced his retirement from public office this year.
A special election is expected in May.
Moorlach joins State Assemblyman Don Wagner, who currently represents the 68th State Assembly District, as front runners in the race.
Moorlach unsuccessfully floated the idea last year of extending term limits for county supervisors, which would have granted him another term in office. When that effort failed with Republican party leaders, he mulled over a run for governor and then flashed interest in the congressional seat ultimately taken by Walters.
By the end of this year’s election cycle, Moorlach had seemingly been left standing in a game of political musical chairs. Openly frustrated by the connection between money and politics, Moorlach’s recent commentary led many to conclude he was done with public life.
Yet this past weekend, Moorlach sent out a special “Moorlach Update” to his email subscribers announcing the next chapter in his political life.
“By last Friday morning, my wife and I agreed to the idea of postponing my sabbatical. The decision to run for the now open 37th Senate District seat, in which I reside, is before us.
In the last week I have been making calls when possible, as there were OCTA and Board of Supervisors meetings and the Thanksgiving holidays. These calls have been extremely positive and I’m putting a campaign team together for the sprint that is called a special election.
Moorlach said he expects to make an official announcement sometime this week.