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…
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