Al Hoang (born 1962) is a former member of the

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, ...

. Prior to his election to that office, Hoang worked as a criminal defense lawyer.Snyder, Mike.
Records raise questions about councilman-elect
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. December 23, 2009. Retrieved on August 7, 2014. "When he filed for office Aug. 18, Hoang listed his address as 4403 Bugle, in District F, and signed a notarized statement saying he had lived in the district for 13 months." He had previously served as a president of the Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinities (VNCH). He was the first

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chines ...

member of the city council.Moran, Chris.
District F councilman facing both political, legal fights
" ''

''. Sunday, October 9, 2011. Retrieved on August 7, 2014.

Biography

Hoang was born in

Phan Rang Phan may refer to: * Phan (surname), a Vietnamese family name * Phan District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand * Phan River, Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam * Phan (tray) Phan ( th, พาน, ) is an artistically decorated tray with pedestal. I ...

, South Vietnam on May 19, 1962. He was one of ten brothers and sisters, and his parents had originated from Nghệ An,

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

but moved to South Vietnam in 1954.Al Hoang

Archive
. Interview by Quynh Le (Houston Asian American Archives at Rice University Woodson Research Center). Published by

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...

Chao Center for Asian Studies Houston Asian American Archive. p. 2/19. Retrieved on August 7, 2014. He came to the United States after the 1975

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of Sou ...

. His family initially settled in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Phila ...

through Catholic church sponsorship. He lived in

Carthage, Missouri Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 15,522 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City." History Jasper County was formed in 1841. Ca ...

before ultimately moving to Houston. He attended the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

beginning in 1983 and studied Philosophy,Al Hoang

Archive
. Interview by Quynh Le (Houston Asian American Archives at Rice University Woodson Research Center). Published by

Chao Center for Asian Studies Houston Asian American Archive. p. 1/19. Retrieved on August 7, 2014. graduating in 1989. In 1996 he received a

Jurist Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the

Thurgood Marshall School of Law The Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) is an ABA-accredited law school in Houston, Texas, that awards Juris Doctor and Master of Law degrees. It is part of Texas Southern University. Thurgood Marshall School of Law is a member-school of the Th ...

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

and began his law practices one year later.Al Hoang

Archive
. Interview by Quynh Le (Houston Asian American Archives at Rice University Woodson Research Center). Published by

Chao Center for Asian Studies Houston Asian American Archive. p. 6/19. Retrieved on August 7, 2014. He became the president of Vietnamese Community of Houston & Vicinities in 2007.

Career

Hoang won the District F position after a November 3, 2009, election and a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

against Mike Laster on December 12 of the same year. His scheduled swearing in date was January 4, 2010. In 2011, he had an election against Hoc Thai Nguyen. In 2013, Richard Nguyen defeated Hoang in the election for the District F seat. Mike Tolson of the ''

'' stated that animosity towards Hoang had built up among Vietnamese partly because he had made a trip to Vietnam, now under Communist rule, in 2010; older Vietnamese who fled after the

still had negative feelings towards the Communists.Tolson, Mike.
Council contender scores improbable upset
" ''

''. November 10, 2013. Retrieved on August 7, 2014. Tolson also stated that perceptions that Hoang acted in a condescending manner towards the Vietnamese community and unproven accusations had also damaged his standing. The ''Houston Chronicle'' editorial department had recommended Hoang's reelection for the 2013 City Council election.

Personal life

He is married to Hang Nguyen from 2009 to 2020. He resides in Pearland. In 2022, Al was reported by Vietnamese press that he bought an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after he heard an advice from retired diplomat and former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Thanh Sơn.
Ðường về Tổ quốc của luật sư Hoàng Duy Hùng
" ''Công An TP.HCM''. August 19, 2022.

References

External links

* Kuffner, Charles.
Interview with CM Al Hoang
" "Kuff's World," ''

''. September 6, 2011. Retrieved on August 7, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoang, Al Living people Houston City Council members American politicians of Vietnamese descent 1962 births University of Houston alumni Vietnamese emigrants to the United States People from Ninh Thuận province Texas Republicans