Bill Campbell (California politician)

Bill Campbell
Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors
In office January 11, 2011 – January 10, 2012
Preceded by	Janet Nguyen
Succeeded by	John Moorlach
In office January 4, 2005 – January 9, 2007
Preceded by	Thomas W. Wilson
Succeeded by	Chris Norby
Vice Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors
In office January 1, 2010 – January 11, 2011
Preceded by	Janet Nguyen
Succeeded by	John Moorlach
Member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 3rd district
In office February 4, 2003 – January 7, 2013
Preceded by	Todd Spitzer
Succeeded by	Todd Spitzer
Minority Leader of the California Assembly
In office November 9, 2000 – March 26, 2001
Preceded by	Scott Baugh
Succeeded by	Dave Cox
Member of the California State Assembly from the 71st district
In office December 2, 1996 - November 30, 2002
Preceded by	Mickey Conroy
Succeeded by	Todd Spitzer
Personal details
Born	(1942-04-08) April 8, 1942 (age 82) Los Angeles, California, US
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary (m. 1967)
Children	3
Education	Loyola Marymount University Harvard Business School

William James Campbell (born April 8, 1942) is a Republican politician from California. He was a California State Assemblyman from 1996–2002, Assembly Republican Leader from 2000–2001, and a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from 2003–2013.

Born in Los Angeles, Campbell grew up in Pico Rivera. Campbell earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

After initially working as an engineer, Campbell and his wife founded BIMA Corporation, a company that specialized in Taco Bell franchises.

In 1996, Campbell was elected to the represent eastern Orange County's 71st District in the State Assembly with 71% of the vote. He was re-elected with 69% of the vote in a three-way race in 1998 and 67% of the vote in a four-way race in 2000. Campbell served as Assembly Republican Leader from 2000 to 2001. During his time in the Assembly, he also served as Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and was a member of the Banking and Finance Committee, the Education Committee, and the Utilities and Commerce Committee.

In 2002, Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer won 73% of the vote to replace the term-limited Campbell. Campbell, in turn, won 75% of the vote in the 2003 special election to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors left when Spitzer resigned to become an Assemblyman. Both men suffered criticism for their apparent job swap, which required changing Orange County from a general law county to a charter county to allow an election to fill the supervisorial vacancy under the county charter instead of having then-Governor Gray Davis fill the vacancy by appointment under general law. However, this controversy seemed to have little effect on the election results, as 53% of County voters approved the creation of the charter and 3/4 of the voters supported the two men in their respective districts.^[1][2] Indeed, Campbell was unopposed for re-election to a full four-year term on the Board of Supervisors in 2004. In 2008, he won 80% of the vote in his bid for a second full four-year term. In 2012, Spitzer won 67% of the vote in his bid to return to the Board to replace the term-limited Campbell.

Campbell served as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors from January 4, 2005 – January 9, 2007 and from January 11, 2011 – January 10, 2012.

Campbell and his wife, Mary, have lived in Villa Park for over a quarter of a century. They have three adult sons, Patrick, Chris, and Brian, and five grandchildren.

• Official Supervisorial web site
• Official Orange County Transportation Agency biography
• Join California Bill Campbell