Endorsement: Hugh Nguyen for Orange County clerk-recorder

Although it might seem like a bland office, that of Orange County clerk-recorder affects everyone. It handles many functions, including birth and death certificates, marriage licenses and real estate deeds. It also performs civil wedding ceremonies.

Incumbent Hugh Nguyen is running and will be tough to beat in the June 2 primary. In office since 2013, he won reelection 84.6% of the vote in 2022 and 79.1% in 2018. Even so, we much prefer to see incumbents challenged, if only so they feel the competitive pressure to perform.

So we're pleased he faces Maria Holly Barraza, who since 2019 has been a records data specialist with the Orange County Sheriff's Department in a 24-hour unit. Before that, she was a staffer with the OC Registrar of Voters. She earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice administration from National University.

"I understand the importance of legal compliance, accessibility and providing resources to the public," she told us. "I want transparency, accuracy and, above all, integrity." She said her current role interfaces with the court system, handling warrants, discovery and subpoenas. Her duties include properly reporting deaths and verifying identities, "so errors don't negatively impact individuals."

Barraza's biggest obstacle is Nguyen has earned a reputation for efficiency and innovation. First employed in 1993 by Clerk-Recorder Gary Granville, Nguyen told us he remembered helping OC become the first county in America to implement electronic-document recording.

Once in the top job, he built a system that automatically indexes up to 700 documents a day. That reduced the number of clerks doing that job from 16 to three, saving $8 million over 12 years. No one was fired because employees were reassigned, promoted or retired.

Other safeguards include cameras recording anyone who comes in to record a real property document, and a "courtesy notice" sent to the owner as an extra check. That's impressive because proper documentation is essential to secure property rights in a free society.

He also instituted a 24/7 live chat on his website, OCRecorder.com. Called CRBot, it greets the visitor, "Hello and welcome to the Orange County Clerk Recorder's Office virtual assistant!" For those allergic to AI "bots," he has four or five staffers available by phone during business hours.

In January, he launched the Clerk-Recorder on Wheels van. He said it's the first of its kind in California and performs most of his office's functions, including passport services and civil weddings. If there's a natural disaster destroying property and other records, he said, "I can take my van and start people's lives again."

We liked Barraza and encourage her to run for another local office. But Nguyen continues to impress us with his innovations that serve the public and we don't see any need to oust him. We encourage voters to retain him in office.

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 1:41 PM.