In Tossup State Senate Race, Janet Nguyen Has A Curious Target: Fellow
Vietnamese-American GOPs
Locked in a competitive re-election campaign, Republican State Senator
Janet Nguyen is lobbing harsh attacks.
And while that's to be expected in the final days of a hard-fought
campaign for one California's few remaining tossup seats, the target of
Nguyen's harshest attacks is directed at fellow Vietnamese-American
Republicans.
A recent radio ad funded by Nguyen’s campaign features a blistering
attack on Tyler Diệp, a fellow Vietnamese-American Orange County Republican in
the middle of a close race for the 72nd Assembly
District. Nguyen has bitterly opposed Diep for more than a decade, dating back
to her feud with her former mentor Assemblyman Van Tran.
The Nguyen-funded ad claims that those who support her Democratic
opponent Tom Umberg “also support Tom Hayden.”
In addition to an attack on Diep, the ad includes false and
out-of-context quotes to imply that Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do,
Nguyen’s former chief of staff, supports Communist officials. The Nguyen audio
clips were taken from a speech Do gave in defense of
Nguyen.
Nguyen Funds Fountain Valley Hit Pieces
On October 12, a Merced County-based political action committee based
in Hilmar spent $7,297.64 in campaign mailers attacking
Republican Vietnamese-American candidate Nick Le Cong, according to state campaign finance
disclosure filings. The same committee spent an additional $3,621.30 on October
17th to
level more attacks on the Fountain Valley candidate.
Why would a political action committee based in Hilmarspend nearly $11,000 on a city council campaign more
than 300 miles away?
On September 15, the PAC accepted a $25,000 campaign contribution from
Janet Nguyen for Senate 2018. Fountain Valley is Nguyen’s hometown.
Nguyen Endorses Democratic
Candidates.
Nguyen has publicly endorsed Mima Velasque (D) over Cecilia Iglesias (R)
for Santa Ana city council. Nguyen also
endorsed Jamison Power (D) and Tai Do (D) over other Republican Vietnamese candidates
for Westminster city council seats.
In Garden Grove, she went after city council candidate Duy Nguyen with attacks
to help his opponent.
Likely to Hurt Vietnamese-American Voter Turnout
The outcome of Nguyen’s attacks could have fallout on other campaigns.
Republicans are defending several congressional seats in Orange County and
likely need Vietnamese-American voters to turnout in larger numbers.
Political scientists frequently say that negative campaign suppresses. A
1999 study by professors at Arizona State University found that
“voters tend to stay home” when campaigns devolve into negative
attacks.
