Vietnamese American Veterans Clash in Southern California’s 45th Congressional District Race

Two Vietnamese American candidates with deep roots in the refugee diaspora are competing for a Southern California congressional seat, turning a district shaped by decades of immigration into a test case for how local governance experience translates to federal office.

Derek Tran, 45, an attorney and U.S. Army veteran who served during Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom, is seeking reelection after securing the seat as a first-term incumbent. His challenger, Tony Vo, 50, recently retired from a 25-year career as a Torrance Police Department officer and spent the last five years on the Cerritos City Council, including a term as mayor.

The race pits Tran’s legislative record in Washington against Vo’s argument that municipal law enforcement and city management better prepare a representative for the realities facing constituents in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Tran’s tenure in Congress has centered on defense policy, small business protections, and localized infrastructure funding. He authored the WARRIOR Act, legislation designed to permanently codify women’s eligibility for combat roles across the U.S. Armed Forces—a policy shift the Pentagon implemented administratively in 2015 but which remains vulnerable to reversal without statutory protection. On the economic front, Tran partnered with Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska to draft the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Foreign Interference Safeguard Act. The bipartisan bill targets vulnerabilities in the SBIR program, a $4 billion annual federal initiative that funds early-stage research at startups and small firms, aiming to shield participating businesses from state-sponsored hacking and intellectual property theft.

Within his district, Tran’s office reported reducing processing delays for Social Security claims affecting individuals and small enterprises. He also directed $5 million in Small Business Administration loan payouts this year and secured $1 million in federal funding for flood prevention infrastructure in Cypress, a city frequently impacted by storm runoff due to its low-lying geography in northern Orange County.

Vo frames his candidacy around direct community service rather than Capitol Hill maneuvering. “I’ve spent my life doing the work on the ground and serving our community,” Vo said, explicitly contrasting himself with Tran by stating he is “not a career politician promising to fix D.C. from the inside.” During his time on the Cerritos City Council from 2020 to 2025, Vo oversaw the creation of the city’s annual Moon Festival, negotiated a franchise extension for a Kia automotive dealership through 2045, and managed a redesign of the municipal website.

The endorsement landscape underscores the ideological divide between the two men, both of whom share similar biographical origins. Tran, who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and graduated from Rosemead High School, operates a pharmacy with his wife, Michelle. His parents fled communist Vietnam, a history he shares with Vo, who also escaped the country as a child. Despite their parallel backgrounds, their political coalitions diverge sharply.

Tran has consolidated support from organized labor and progressive advocacy groups. His backers include the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the California Federation of Labor Unions, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the deputy sheriff unions representing both Orange and Los Angeles counties—unusual alignment given that law enforcement unions frequently split endorsements or lean toward Republican candidates in suburban districts.

Vo relies on institutional Republican backing and local elected officials. He holds the endorsement of the California Republican Party, the Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs, and Orange County Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Don Wagner. A network of mayors spanning Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, and Norwalk has also aligned behind his campaign.

Southern California’s Vietnamese American electorate, concentrated heavily in Orange County’s Little Saigon and spilling into neighboring Los Angeles County communities like Cerritos and the San Gabriel Valley, represents one of the most politically active diaspora voting blocs in the United States. Historically a reliable Republican stronghold driven by anti-communist foreign policy priorities, the demographic has fractured over the past decade, with younger voters and those prioritizing domestic economic issues increasingly supporting Democrats. The Tran-Vo matchup reflects this ongoing realignment, forcing both campaigns to navigate a constituency where national identity politics and hyper-local concerns carry equal weight.

Tran currently holds the endorsements of the deputy sheriffs’ unions for both Orange and Los Angeles counties.