Another Democrat — and the third candidate of Vietnamese descent — has launched a congressional bid in the heart of the country’s Vietnamese community.
Derek Tran, a 42-year-old consumer rights attorney, announced his campaign this week in California’s 45th congressional district, a competitive seat held by Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Seal Beach, a Korean American. The district is home to Orange County’s Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese enclave outside of Vietnam.
Tran is the son of Vietnamese refugees who fled communist Vietnam by boat in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, arriving in Southern California.
“They came here with really nothing,” said Tran. “That’s a story shared by so many of us here.”
“They saved their money and started a corner market, which I had to work at after school and during the summers. But, with that hard work, they saved up enough money to buy a house and then to really realize the American Dream,” Tran said.
Tran, who said his run is “the ultimate call to service,” enlisted in the military when he was 18. The congressional race, he says, is “the further call to serve my country, to pay it back to this nation for what they’ve done for me and my family.”
Tran’s entry into the race suggests that the interests of the Little Saigon community will be “front and center” in the election, said Long Bui, an international studies professor at UC Irvine.
In the C-shaped district that straddles Los Angeles and Orange counties, nearly two in 10 voters are Vietnamese, according to figures from Political Data Inc.
Tran has roots in the Vietnamese community in Orange County: He speaks the language and co-owns a brick-and-mortar pharmacy in Anaheim with his wife Michelle Tran, who grew up in Garden Grove, and he understands the issues facing the community, he said.
“I think it comes down to my lived experience that I bring to the table,” said Tran. “Being able to communicate with these older Vietnamese. I plan on organizing door-to-doors with my campaign.”
Tran intends to talk with voters about their concerns about high medical care costs and leniency on theft. He also said he plans to advocate for women’s healthcare, gun safety reform and preserving government assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Garden Grove Councilmember Kim Bernice Nguyen and Little Saigon attorney Jimmy Pham are also running for the seat and are of Vietnamese descent. Nguyen has already amassed plenty of local support, including from Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine; Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton; and County Supervisor Katrina Foley.
Others in the race include Brea resident Aditya Pai and UC Irvine Law grad Cheyenne Hunt.
“Vietnamese voters are often drawn to Vietnamese American candidates, due to cultural or historical reasons,” Bui said. “But there are now several who identify as Vietnamese, so there is room for scrutiny and close examination of their policies.”
Tran’s campaign says he raised more than $250,000 within 24 hours of launching, $3,300 of that being self-funded. That’s more than any of his Democratic primary opponents have raised in the last quarter.
By the end of the second quarter fundraising period, Nguyen had raised $151,239 but burned through more than half of that — she closed out the second quarter with $55,032 cash on hand. Hunt and Pai brought in $170,557 and $139,060, respectively, and have $123,711 and $81,454 still left to spend. Both have loaned their campaigns more than $10,000.
Pham raised $13,485, far below the rest, and ended the second quarter with $9,931 cash on hand. He also took out a personal loan of $8,500.
Steel brought in $1,114,799 in the second quarter and closed it out with more than $1.7 million left in her coffers.
Financial reports for the third quarter will be available in mid-October.
The district is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s target list of competitive Republican-held or open districts that the party’s campaign arm is expected to invest heavily in, and Democrats have a near 6% voter registration advantage over Republicans, according to the latest official state registration reports. Last year, Steel defeated her Democratic challenger to win reelection by nearly 5%.
The 45th is one of five Republican-held districts in California that went for President Joe Biden in 2020.
The Republican Party recently opened a new community center in Little Saigon ahead of the 2024 elections. The center is one of nearly 40 such facilities the RNC has set up across the country as part of its plan to woo minority voters. Republicans hope making greater inroads with Orange County’s AAPI voters will help them hold onto office in an increasingly blue landscape.
“Michelle beat an incumbent Democrat and was reelected in a Democratic district because Southern California voters know how hard she works and trusts her to fight for the issues that matter most to them: lowering high taxes, reducing inflation and holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their anti-America platform,” said Steel campaign spokesperson Rebecca Schieber.
