Tri Ta (born April 10, 1973) is a Vietnamese-born American politician currently serving as a member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

. He represents Assembly District 70, which consists of much of the

Little Saigon Little Saigon () is a name given to ethnic enclaves of overseas Vietnamese, expatriate Vietnamese mainly in English-speaking countries. (). Saigon is the former name of the capital of the former South Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City), where a lar ...

area of northwestern Orange County. He previously served as Mayor of

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

Early life and education

Ta was born in Saigon in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

(now

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

). In 1992, he and his parents immigrated to the United States as refugees. Ta was 19 at the time.

Political career

Ta served as a city councilor in Westminster before being elected mayor. He became mayor in 2012 and was the city's first Vietnamese-American mayor. Ta was reelected in 2018. He is a Republican and has advocated for the Republican Party to take a greater interest in Vietnamese voters. Vietnamese Americans traditionally voted Republicans, but Democrats have made gains recently, especially in Orange County. In 2019, Ta attracted publicity for clashing with other members of Westminster's city council. He and fellow council members Kimberly Ho and Chi Charlie Nguyen frequently sparred with the remaining members. Notably, they passed a controversial resolution alleging that the Vietnamese government was improperly interfering in city politics. This dispute culminated in the three voting to change the council's procedures over the objections of other members. Opponents of the three councilors filed for a recall election in response. In April 2020, Ta and his allies survived the recall attempt. In January 2022, Ta announced his intention to run for election to the

in district 70, which was being vacated by incumbent

Janet Nguyen Janet Q. Nguyen (born May 1, 1976) is an American politician serving on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing the First District, since December 4, 2024. She previously heldthe same office from 2007 to 2014. A Republican, she ser ...

. He placed second in the top-two primary in June and faced Garden Grove

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

woman Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen in the November general election. That same year, a council dispute over renewing Westminster's sales tax placed the city at risk of bankruptcy. Ta was also censured for false statements he made about other councilors. In November 2022, Ta won the election to represent the 70th district in the California State Assembly. He took office in December. As a delegate for Trump, Ta has supported

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in the

2024 presidential election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ta, Tri 1973 births 21st-century mayors of places in California 21st-century members of the California State Legislature American mayors of Asian descent Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in California Asian conservatism in the United States California politicians of Vietnamese descent California Republicans Living people People from Westminster, California Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Vietnamese emigrants to the United States