After a failed attempt to clinch a seat on Westminster‘s City Council last year, Jimmy Pham has launched a campaign for California’s 45th congressional district.
Pham is the latest addition to a growing slate of Democrats hoping to flip the seat held by Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Seal Beach.
“I’m running to unleash our economy, make our communities safer, attempt to resolve the border crisis and make parents comfortable with sending their children to school again, without fear of a mass shooting,” Pham said in his announcement. “We can only realize America’s potential with fresh leadership, common sense ideals, and the willingness to get things done.”
As an immigration attorney, Pham said he has helped hundreds of immigrants obtain green cards, work permits, citizenship or avoided imminent deportation. His family escaped Vietnam in 1975 via a refugee boat and found opportunity in the U.S, he said.
“My father became one of the first Vietnamese dentists in the United States, opened a practice on Bolsa Avenue in Westminster and was one of the founders of the Little Saigon community,” Pham said.
Immigration and the border crisis are key topics he wants to tackle if voters send him to Washington, he said.
“I’ve been in the middle of this immigration battle for the past four or five years. I’ve lobbied for more humane detention, and I’ve seen how presidential administrations or new legislation has changed the makeup of the immigration field. I have to always follow policy; I have to see how the laws are changing,” Pham said.
Pham, a Westminster resident who was born and raised in Orange County, serves as vice chair for the city’s traffic commission and sits on the Vietnamese American Democratic Club Board. He said he is committed to finding ways to redevelop older portions of the city and attract more tourists.
“My plan is to continue to grow the Little Saigon area into the cultural icon it should be, in order to keep the cultures, values and heritage of the South Vietnamese people,” he said.
One thing he wants to push for as a member of Congress is building a pedestrian bridge over Bolsa Avenue, which was proposed in 2008 by then-Supervisor Janet Nguyen but ultimately turned down by the City Council.
Pham, who considers himself a “moderate liberal,” also said Westminster needs more funding for public safety, first responders and the fire and police departments.
His running for Congress is an extension of his family’s tradition of service to the Little Saigon community, he said.
Orange County’s Little Saigon, made up mainly of Westminster, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley, is the largest Vietnamese enclave outside of Vietnam.
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%. As of now, she will be up against Brea resident Aditya Pai, UC Irvine Law grad Cheyenne Hunt and Garden Grove Councilmember Kim Bernice Nguyen.
