About Frances

Fighter for Orange County Families

Frances Marquez has never backed down from fighting for what is right. As a Cypress City Councilmember, she has used her voice to call for transparency and shine a light on backroom deals at City Hall.

She's running for Orange County Supervisor to bring much-needed accountability and oversight to county government and deliver resources to the communities that need them most.

Throughout Frances' career in public service, she helped create more opportunities for students, working families, small businesses, veterans, and seniors.

Elected to the Cypress City Council in November 2020, Frances wasted no time helping families and small businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic. She organized volunteers to help senior citizens with online vaccination appointment registration. When families found it challenging to find vaccine sites close to Cypress, Frances advocated with the County of Orange to bring a mobile vaccination site to the Los Alamitos Racetrack. She voted to provide resiliency grants for small businesses and to support entrepreneurs starting home-based businesses.

Frances is often the sole dissenting voice on the council challenging the status quo and speaking for residents who have long gone unheard. She was the only Council member who voted against a 10-year trash contract extension that increased rates on residents by 32% and stopped a rate hike during the pandemic. She fought for residents and halted the building of a garbage truck fueling station near an elementary school. When the City of Cypress allowed the dumping of large amounts of trash at its public works yard, Frances advocated for nearby residents and called for the city to stop the practice.

"Cypress residents upset after city maintenance yard becomes yard dump site for private trash companies" – KTLA, August 19, 2022

Frances has been a watchdog for taxpayers by demanding transparency before voting on spending, whether it be the city budget, the redistricting lawsuit, or trash services. She has fought to make it easier for residents to access campaign finance disclosures and participate in city council meetings.

Professionally, Frances is an Associate Professor of Government teaching deaf and hard-of-hearing students and helped open doors for them to pursue careers in public service.

She served as the Legislative Director for now-retired Orange County area Congressman Alan Lowenthal. Frances worked closely with the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee to secure funding for the STARBASE and Sunburst National Guard Youth Challenge Programs at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB). The STARBASE Program encourages fifth-grade students to study science and math, and Sunburst helps youth who have dropped out of high school complete their GED at the JFTB in six months. She also helped advocate for better access to health and childcare for veterans.

Frances Marquez grew up in Orange County and attended Cypress schools.

Orange County provided Frances with a strong foundation for a successful life. The granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, Frances' father served our country during the Korean War. He operated his parent's small family farm where her mother worked as the bookkeeper. Their hard work earned them enough to buy a home in Cypress in 1974, where Frances and her five siblings grew up. The quality education she received from Damron and Vessels Elementary, Lexington Junior High, and Cypress High School enabled her to earn a Bachelor of Arts in History from UCLA. She then earned a Master's in Public Policy and a Doctorate in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University.

Frances has decades of experience increasing participation in our democracy. She was the statewide director for a New Citizen Voter Registration Project in 1991 and has campaigned for local, state, and national candidates, including President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, and then Congressmember Xavier Becerra.

Frances resides in Cypress, where she cares for her mom and her dog, Benito.