After 10 years at its helm, Fred Whitaker won’t seek re-election in January to the Republican Party of Orange County’s chairmanship.
Whitaker told Central Committee members in September of his decision to forgo a re-election bid and relayed the announcement in a newsletter on Monday, Sept. 30. He will continue to serve as a Central Committee member, Whitaker said, as well as OCGOP’s finance director.
“I am incredibly proud of the work we have been able to accomplish under my leadership,” Whitaker said in Monday’s email. “As a team, we have been able to break local records and become a national model for local Republican organizations.”
“For the party to continue to grow, I understand the importance of passing the torch of leadership to the next generation of the Republican Party,” he said.
In an interview Monday, Whitaker pointed to the OCGOP’s voter registration program — particularly its success in getting former Republicans re-registered with the party — as part of his decision-making.
“Our voter registration program is the best it’s ever been,” he said. “This is as good a time for a transition as any.”
But he’s most proud, Whitaker said, of the OCGOP’s ability to come back from the 2018 losses, winning two seats back with Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel in 2020. He believes the OCGOP is on track to pick up at least one more seat this cycle as well.
Whitaker is backing Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill for the chairmanship position. This early, it’s unclear if anyone else plans to throw their hat in the ring for the spot.
“I trust his vision to lead the party through the 2026 election and beyond,” said Whitaker. “His record and experience serving Newport Beach is second to none and a role model for good, conservative local governance.”
Over 70 people will be sworn into the Central Committee on the third Monday in January, Whitaker said, and that day, they will also pick their new officers. In the March primary election, voters elected Central Committee members, six from each of the nine Assembly districts, and those people are eligible to run for the chairmanship or other leadership positions.
Whitaker, 59, was first elected as chairman of the OCGOP in 2015 in a unanimous vote, according to his bio on the party’s website.
Then, Whitaker was considered to be “a relatively unknown GOP foot soldier.” He had run unopposed for the position, handpicked by the outgoing chair at the time, Scott Baugh.
“This is a different role for me,” Whitaker said then. “I’m usually behind the scenes and under the radar.”
Still, Whitaker wasn’t a newcomer to politics when he was chosen to helm the county party. He had served as OCGOP’s vice chairman already and on the Orange City Council.
He was inundated with politics from a young age, walking precincts with his mother when he was only 7 years old, according to a 2015 profile, and chaired the College Republicans at UC Berkeley where he would earn degrees in history and political science. Whitaker would also lead the California College Republicans.
The longtime Republican volunteer even met his wife at the 1987 California Republican Party Convention, held that year in Anaheim, according to his OCGOP bio.
To Whitaker, being a Republican means a focus on limited government and “on things that government is supposed to be doing to promote a healthy society.”
“I really believe in the conservative movement that came through the Reagan era: a free market economy, a strong defense and a traditional family structure,” Whitaker said. “Different elements get emphasized at different times, but those three things are still the essence of what we believe and what motivates our base and voters in general.”
Baugh extended his congratulations to Whitaker “for a job well done” on Monday.
“Fred has been an amazing chairman for our party,” said Baugh, a former Assemblymember. “He has been and remains 100% committed to the advancement of limited government and our election victories. As someone who also served in that job for over a decade, I can tell you that you can only do this job for so long because it’s an all-encompassing job.”
Whitaker is a managing partner at Cummins & White in Newport Beach where his focus includes commercial real estate, estate and succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, and tax, according to the firm’s website.
Whitaker marked only the third OCGOP chair in 30 years. Baugh, who is in the midst of a congressional bid, held the post for 11 years. Before him, the late Tim Fuentes led the OCGOP for 19 years.
