The race is officially on to fill the supervisor seat held by Janet Nguyen until she recently elected to State Senate. The official election date is January 27, 2015 with the mailing of absentee ballot starting December 26, 2014.
The Orange County D1 has approximately 600,000 residents and covers part or most of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Westminster, Midway City and Santa Ana. The last time a special election was held, close to 48,000 votes were casted and Janet Nguyen won the election over Trung Nguyen by 3 votes. There are about 51,000 registered Vietnamese-American voters in the district.
There are a total of 5 candidates, two Hispanic and 3 Vietnamese-American. But the two main candidates with their respective party's endorsement and support are Lou Correa (D) and Andrew Do (R).
Lou Correa, 56, is a termed-out state senator and was a D1 supervisor for 2 years (2006-2007). Andrew Do, 51, is a former Garden Grove city councilmember and former OC deputy district attorney. He also serves as chief of staff for Janet Nguyen.
Andrew Do has the endorsement of the OC Republican Party and many big names Republican included OC Supervisor Michelle Steel, State Senator Mimi Walters, and Congressman Ed Royce. Of course, State Senator Janet Nguyen is supporting him strongly and her constituents within the Vietnamese-American community are likely to follow her suit. He has a strong presence in the community with the many community programs that bring healthcare and social benefits.
Even though Correa works very hard to win Vietnamese-American support but his unequivocal support of SCA-5 to repeal the ban of colleges and universities in California to use racial preferences has angered many people in the community. They see this legislature as threat to their children's education advancement since SCA-5 essential will limit the numbers of Asian students to be accepted to college.
This special election will be won by whoever can get their base to turn out. Correa and his close support of President Obama and his amnesty policy for illegal aliens can be a plus to drive the Hispanic vote. While Do with his Republican Party's endorsement will get the hard core party vote.
Andrew Do, with his strong Republican and natural Vietnamese-American base, has the most visibility with his party and in Little Saigon despite the fact that there are two other Vietnamese-American candidates. According to conventional wisdom, candidate Chuyen van Nguyen, a relative unknown in the community, is there to dilute the vote on purpose. Chuyen van Nguyen was a retired aide to former State Senator Joe Dunn (D). Garden Grove Councilmember Chris Phan, meanwhile, has no record in the community during his 2 years in office except for his public ambition ever since he took council office to become the next supervisor . He is being supported in the Vietnamese-American community by the remnant of Van Tran's supporters. These are the same people that would not vote for Janet Nguyen or anybody who received her support. Phan can play the role of the spoiler of course.
Expect the race will be a close one and LSI cannot wait to see another nail-biter like 2007.
The Orange County D1 has approximately 600,000 residents and covers part or most of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Westminster, Midway City and Santa Ana. The last time a special election was held, close to 48,000 votes were casted and Janet Nguyen won the election over Trung Nguyen by 3 votes. There are about 51,000 registered Vietnamese-American voters in the district.
There are a total of 5 candidates, two Hispanic and 3 Vietnamese-American. But the two main candidates with their respective party's endorsement and support are Lou Correa (D) and Andrew Do (R).
Lou Correa, 56, is a termed-out state senator and was a D1 supervisor for 2 years (2006-2007). Andrew Do, 51, is a former Garden Grove city councilmember and former OC deputy district attorney. He also serves as chief of staff for Janet Nguyen.
Andrew Do has the endorsement of the OC Republican Party and many big names Republican included OC Supervisor Michelle Steel, State Senator Mimi Walters, and Congressman Ed Royce. Of course, State Senator Janet Nguyen is supporting him strongly and her constituents within the Vietnamese-American community are likely to follow her suit. He has a strong presence in the community with the many community programs that bring healthcare and social benefits.
Even though Correa works very hard to win Vietnamese-American support but his unequivocal support of SCA-5 to repeal the ban of colleges and universities in California to use racial preferences has angered many people in the community. They see this legislature as threat to their children's education advancement since SCA-5 essential will limit the numbers of Asian students to be accepted to college.
This special election will be won by whoever can get their base to turn out. Correa and his close support of President Obama and his amnesty policy for illegal aliens can be a plus to drive the Hispanic vote. While Do with his Republican Party's endorsement will get the hard core party vote.
Andrew Do, with his strong Republican and natural Vietnamese-American base, has the most visibility with his party and in Little Saigon despite the fact that there are two other Vietnamese-American candidates. According to conventional wisdom, candidate Chuyen van Nguyen, a relative unknown in the community, is there to dilute the vote on purpose. Chuyen van Nguyen was a retired aide to former State Senator Joe Dunn (D). Garden Grove Councilmember Chris Phan, meanwhile, has no record in the community during his 2 years in office except for his public ambition ever since he took council office to become the next supervisor . He is being supported in the Vietnamese-American community by the remnant of Van Tran's supporters. These are the same people that would not vote for Janet Nguyen or anybody who received her support. Phan can play the role of the spoiler of course.
Expect the race will be a close one and LSI cannot wait to see another nail-biter like 2007.
