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Janet Nguyen
American politician (born 1976) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Janet Q. Nguyen (born May 1, 1976) is an American politician serving on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing the First District, since December 4, 2024. She previously held the same office from 2007 to 2014. A Republican, she served in the California State Senate from 2014 to 2018 and 2022 to 2024 and the California State Assembly from 2020 to 2022.
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She is the first Vietnamese-American state senator in the United States and the country's first Vietnamese-American woman state legislator. At the age of 30, she was the youngest person to be elected to the board of supervisors, the first woman to be elected from the First District, and the first Vietnamese-American county supervisor in the United States. Prior to her election to the Board of Supervisors, she served as a Garden Grove City Council Member and at age 28, was the youngest person ever elected to that body, until Kim Nguyen (no relation) was elected at 25 in 2016.
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Personal life
Nguyen was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, on May 1, 1976, roughly one year after the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. Her family joined millions of others in becoming boat people when she was five, coming to California in 1981. They first lived in San Bernardino, but settled in Garden Grove in early 1990s. She attended the University of California, Irvine, at first on a pre-medical track but changed her major to political science, saying she had been inspired by Supervisor Bill Steiner.[1] She is married to Tom Bonikowski Jr., with whom she has two sons, Thomas III and Timothy.[citation needed]
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Political career
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Orange County Board of Supervisors (2007–2014)
Janet Nguyen first won her supervisorial seat following a historic special election where two Vietnamese-American candidates received half of the total votes cast in a field of 10, separated from each other by only 7 votes.[2] She was sworn in on March 27, 2007, after a lengthy court battle.[3] Nguyen won a full, four-year term in 2008. She was reelected to a third term in 2012 and left the Board in 2014 after winning her first State Senate term.
The election of Supervisor Lou Correa to the California State Senate in the 2006 election left his supervisorial seat vacant. Ten candidates filed for the seat in the February 6, 2007, special election, including three Republican Vietnamese Americans. While the 1st District Supervisorial seat is officially non-partisan, the leading candidate was California State Assemblyman Tom Umberg, a Democrat who had the full support of labor unions. The Republican Party did not officially endorse a candidate, but most party leaders were backing Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante.[4]
Janet Nguyen's main opponent, Garden Grove Unified School District Trustee Trung Nguyen, had the support of State Assemblyman Van Tran.[5] The election was particularly heated within the Vietnamese-American community, with accusations flying back and forth between the two Nguyen camps. Trung Nguyen's campaign was found to have photoshopped Trung Nguyen into a photo next to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Janet Nguyen was criticized for not being fluent in Vietnamese.[5][6]
At the end of election night, Janet Nguyen was leading by 52 votes, with Trung Nguyen in second place. However, when all the votes were counted on the following day, Trung Nguyen was leading by seven votes.[7] Janet Nguyen requested a recount, and the final result was 10,919 votes for Janet Nguyen and 10,912 votes for Trung Nguyen. Janet Nguyen was certified the winner.[8] However, Trung Nguyen's lawyers filed a lawsuit challenging the recount, alleging that the Registrar of Voters improperly voided votes for him and awarded votes to Janet Nguyen in the recount. The Board of Supervisors postponed inaugurating Janet Nguyen pending the lawsuit. On March 26, she was named the winner, winning by just 3 votes. She was sworn into office on March 27, 2007.
In light of her initial election's closeness in 2007, it was widely expected that Janet Nguyen would be forced into a November 2008 run-off election, especially when rumors emerged that she accepted campaign funds from a supposed communist sympathizer.[9] However, after throwing similar accusations of communist ties back at opponent Van Tran, Janet Nguyen won 56.6% of the vote in the June 2008 election, winning the supervisorial district election outright and avoiding a November run-off.[9] Garden Grove City Councilwoman Dina Nguyen, a fellow Republican who received the strong support of Assemblyman Van Tran and his machine (including former candidate, Trung Nguyen), won only 27.7% of the vote, while Democratic activist Hoa Van Tran won 15.7% of the vote.
During her first tenure as County Supervisor, Janet Nguyen spearheaded an effort in 2010 to allocate $350,000 of county park funds for the construction of a Vietnamese American and U.S. history memorial at Roger Stanton Park in Midway City.[10]
However, Janet Nguyen also attracted criticism after an Orange County Grand Jury report suggested that the departure of top executives from the county's public health insurer CalOptima was the result of Nguyen attempting to use her position on CalOptima's Board of Directors "for political gain."[11][12] The report further criticized Nguyen for allowing lobbyists from the Hospital Association of Southern California to amend the county ordinance governing CalOptima to reduce the influence of program beneficiaries while increasing the control of health care providers.[13] Janet Nguyen also attracted the attention of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013, which was investigating Nguyen's political fundraising activities in relation to county contractors.[14][15]
California State Senate (2014–2018)
In her first State Senate term from 2014 to 2018, she represented the old 34th District, before narrowly losing reelection to Tom Umberg.
In 2014, incumbent Democratic State Senator Lou Correa was term-limited, creating a vacancy. Republican leaders quickly rallied around Nguyen while the state Democratic establishment rallied around former state Assemblyman Jose Solorio. The ensuing election was the most expensive in the state, and at times featured accusations and aggressive negative advertising. The vote was expected to be close, but Nguyen won the November election by a 58% to 42% margin, surprising even her fellow Republicans. She became the first State Senator of Vietnamese ancestry in American history.[16]
On February 23, 2017, Senator Nguyen was forcibly removed from the Senate floor during an attempt to criticize the late California Sen. Tom Hayden and called him a communist. She rose to criticize his stance as "an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War [who] made celebrated trips to North Vietnam and Cambodia, offering to help broker a peaceful end."[17] She spoke first in Vietnamese and then in English, all whilst repeatedly being told by presiding Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, that she was out of order. After she continued speaking her microphone was turned off. Senator Nguyen continued anyway, and Lara later ordered a sergeant-at-arms to escort her out of the room. The entire episode was caught on video, and elicited serious criticism from the Senate GOP Caucus, particularly in the shadow of a similar censure of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren during the confirmation hearings of Jeff Sessions.[18] For her actions, the Los Angeles Times referred to Nguyen as "a rising Republican star",[19] while the Huffington Post supported the actions of the legislative body to stop Nguyen from speaking.[20]
In 2018, Nguyen was challenged for re-election by Democratic former state Assemblyman Tom Umberg. In a major upset, Nguyen was narrowly defeated in the general election.
California State Assembly (2020–2022)
She was a member of the California State Assembly for the old 72nd district from 2020 to 2022, encompassing parts of northern coastal Orange County.
In 2020, Nguyen ran for the seat in California State Assembly's 72nd district. She placed first in the primary, helping unseat incumbent Republican Tyler Diep, who placed third and thus could not advance to the general election. In the general election, she defeated the Democrat, Garden Grove City Councilwoman Diedre Nguyen (no relation) by 8%.[21]
In 2021, she supported the recall of the current governor of California, Gavin Newsom.[22][23]
Return to the California State Senate (2022–2024)
On December 21, 2021, Nguyen announced that she would be a candidate for the newly-created State Senate District 36.[24] She won the November 2022 general election against Democrat Kim Carr with 56.9% of the vote.[25] State Senate District 36 includes coastal Orange County, Little Saigon, and parts of Los Angeles County.
During her second tenure in the California State Senate, Janet Nguyen introduced 55 bills and resolutions, the majority of which focused on improving animal welfare, addressing health insurance issues, and uplifting Vietnamese-American anti-communist efforts. For example, Nguyen authored SB 1478, which creates standard guidance for veterinary practices in animal shelters, and SB 1407, which authorizes the planning and construction of a monument honoring the "survivors and victims of communism" on the grounds of the State Capitol, both of which were signed into law by the governor.[26][27]
Return to the Orange County Board of Supervisors (2024–present)
In 2024, Nguyen ran successfully for the Orange County Board of Supervisors in District 1.[28] She took office on December 4, 2024, filling the vacancy left by Andrew Do's resignation following pleading guilty to bribery.[29] Capitalizing on the fallout from Do's corruption scandal, Nguyen ran on a platform that focused on anti-corruption reforms, increasing local law enforcement spending, auditing county mental health and homelessness programs, and supporting "the Border Wall and Beefed up Border Security."[30][31]
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Electoral history
Orange County Supervisor
California State Legislature
Map legend
- J. Nguyen—30–40%
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References
External links
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