Bee Nguyen (born July 18, 1981) is an American nonprofit executive and politician serving as a member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

from the 89th district. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, she was elected during a special election in December 2017 to fill the seat vacated following

Stacey Abrams Stacey Yvonne Abrams (; born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. A member ...

's resignation in August 2017 to focus on her run for governor. Nguyen is 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 ...

elected to the Georgia House of Representatives.

Early life and education

Born in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary med ...

, Nguyen grew up in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georg ...

, and attended

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

for her bachelor's and master's in English literature and an MPA in finance and management. She moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

in 1999.

Career

Nguyen was previously the executive director of a nonprofit organization she founded, Athena Warehouse, a program to educate and empower girls in under-resourced communities. She is currently National Policy Advisor for New American Leaders. In November 2018, BizJournals included her on a list of 40 under 40s. Nguyen described her charitable work as helping to "focus her desire to reduce economic disparity".

Georgia Legislature

Elections

After Abrams resigned from the state legislature, four candidates announced efforts to succeed her.Maya T. Prabhu, "Diverse array of candidates seeks Abrams' old House seat", ''The Atlanta Constitution'' (October 16, 2017), p. B4. In addition to being the first Vietnamese-American to win election to the Georgia House, Nguyen became the first Asian-American Democratic woman to hold a state office in Georgia. In June 2020, Nguyen won the Democratic nomination for reelection to her seat by a wide margin.

Tenure

Nguyen opposed the

Election Integrity Act of 2021 The Election Integrity Act of 2021, originally known as the Georgia Senate Bill 202, is a law in the U.S. state of Georgia overhauling elections in the state. It mandates voter identification requirements on absentee ballots, limits the use of ...

2022 Georgia Secretary of State election

On May 4, 2021, Nguyen declared her candidacy for

Georgia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public records. The office has had a four-year term since 1946. Before 1880, t ...

in the 2022 election. In February 2022, she announced that she had raised over $1 million in her campaign. Nguyen received 44% of the vote, and advanced to a runoff election against

Dee Dawkins-Haigler Dee Dawkins-Haigler (; January 31, 1970) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, she was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives representing the state's 91st district from 2008 until 2017. She has also ru ...

, who received 19% of the vote. Nguyen defeated Dawkins-Haigler in the runoff. She lost to the incumbent,

Brad Raffensperger Bradford Jay Raffensperger (born May 18, 1955) is an American politician, businessman, and civil engineer, serving as the Secretary of State of Georgia since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Georgia House of Re ...

, in the November 8 general election.https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-georgia-secretary-of-state.html

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Bee 1981 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women of Vietnamese descent in politics Asian-American people in Georgia (U.S. state) politics Georgia State University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Politicians from Ames, Iowa Politicians from Atlanta Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Candidates in the 2022 United States elections