State Senator Janet Nguyen jumped into the contest for the 1st Supervisor District this week in a big way. She announced her long-rumored candidacy on Monday.
“After giving it a great deal of thought and prayer, I have decided to run for Supervisor in the First District, my home and the Supervisor District I represented from 2007 to 2014. The Board of Supervisors is where decisions are made that have a direct impact on our quality of life. From crime, homelessness, the cost of living, traffic congestion, health care, to keeping our beaches clean and more, the Board is where problems can be solved,” said Nguyen in a campaign press release.
Nguyen is a veteran and indefatigable campaigner who has only lost one election in her 20-year political career.
The 1st District is currently represented by Supervisor Andrew Do. It includes the communities of Cypress, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Westminster, Midway City, Rossmoor and Seal Beach.
Her entry has been followed by a barrage of endorsement announcements from her campaign, including the Lincoln Club of Orange County, former Assemblyman and OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh (also running for Congress), former Senator and county Supervisor Pat Bates, Senator Kelly Seyarto, Assemblyman Phil Chen, Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, Assemblywoman Katie Sanchez, and Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein.
Nguyen’s entry fleshes out what is promising to be a March primary dominated by Vietnamese-American candidates, with a strong political grudge match overlay.
In February of this year, former Assemblyman Van Tran announced his candidacy for the seat. Tran currently works for Supervisor Do as his chief of staff for external affairs. Tran is supported by Supervisor Do, Assemblyman Tri Ta and a laundry list of local elected officials.
Tran’s campaign reports raising more than $275,000 by the beginning of June.
While the number of Vietnamese-American elected officials has multiplied in recent years, Tran was a trailblazer. He was only the second Vietnamese-American elected to office in the United States when he won elected to the Garden Grove City Council in 2000. He subsequently won election to the state Assembly in 2004, then lost a bruising and unsuccessful attempt to defeat Rep. Loretta Sanchez. In 2014, he ran for the state Board of Equalization but lost the primary to then-Assemblywoman Diane Harkey.
The world of Vietnamese-American politics in Orange County is clannish and often characterized by shifting alliances and bitter rivalries. Nguyen once worked for Tran as a field representative when he was a member of the Assembly. In 2004, she became the youngest person ever elected to the Garden Grove City Council.
Sometime later she and Tran had a falling out. During a 2007 special election for a Board of Supervisor vacancy, Janet Nguyen threw her hat into the ring while Tran backed Garden Grove school board trustee Trung Nguyen. After a fabled and nerve-wracking recount, Janet Nguyen won by 3 votes.
Andrew Do was Janet Nguyen’s right-hand man during the campaign and recount, and served as her chief of staff on the Board of Supervisors. Do was elected to the Garden Grove City Council in 2008, but resigned before completing his term.
In 2014, Janet Nguyen was elected to the state Senate, necessitating a special election to fill her supervisor seat. She threw the full weight of her support behind Do, who narrowly defeated Lou Correa.
Not long afterward, for reasons that remain murky, Nguyen and Do had a falling out and have been political enemies ever since.
Completing the Viet candidate trifecta is Westminster Councilwoman Kim Ho, who has been aligned with various factions during her political career. Ho owns a successful beauty supply company and is fully capable of self-funding her campaign.
Also running is controversial Cypress Councilmember Frances Marquez, who has been censured multiple times by her council colleagues for offenses such as violating the Brown Act.
The March 2024 primary promises to be expensive, bloody and bitter.
