Tyler Diep is a Vietnamese-American politician currently serving on the

Midway City Midway City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) that forms part of the county land controlled by Orange County, California. The only area in Orange County that incorporates its chamber of commerce and homeowners as ...

Sanitary District Board of Directors. He previously served one term in 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 ...

. Formerly a Republican, he represented the 72nd Assembly District, which encompasses parts of northern coastal Orange County which includes the cities of

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as o ...

, Garden Grove,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, and the unincorporated areas of

and Rossmoor.

Political career

At the age of twenty-three, Diep was first elected as a director of the

Sanitary District in 2006 and left this position at the end of 2018 after serving three consecutive 4-year terms due to his election to the State Assembly. After being defeated for re-election to the Assembly in the 2020 primary election, Diep successfully ran in the 2020 general election to return to a director's seat at the Midway City Sanitary District. Concurrently with his initial tenure at the Midway City Sanitary District, Diep was also elected to the

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 ...

in 2008 and in 2014. He was unanimously selected as Vice Mayor in 2010 and 2018. Professionally, he served as a senior adviser and small business outreach specialist with the California State Board of Equalization and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. In addition, he is also a proud small business owner in Huntington Beach. For the 2019–20 legislative session, Diep served as vice-chair for the Housing and Community Development Committee and the Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media. He also served as a member of the Appropriations, Public Safety, Transportation, Labor and Employment, and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. In July 2019, Diep apologized for using

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

in his campaign mailers the previous year against his opponent, Josh Lowenthal. The stereotypes in question depicted Lowenthal "with an enlarged nose and clutching $100 bills." In 2019, Diep introduced a bill, AB 317, to prohibit private companies from selling DMV appointments. It passed. In the

state Assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

, Diep compiled a moderate record and broke with his party on key issues.

Lyft Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, and bicycle-sharing systems in the United States and Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand a ...

funded a $2 million campaign to unseat Diep, due to his stance on Assembly Bill 5, which categorized rideshare drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. Uber also gave $200,000 to a similar PAC. Partly as a result, he was defeated in the primary by former

state Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

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 ...

, who went on to win the November general election. In an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

interview radio interview that aired November 2, 2022, Diep announced he left the Republican Party and is currently registered without party preference. Diep cites the January 6, 2021 insurrection and the rhetoric of

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 ...

as his main reasons for leaving the Republican Party.

Personal life

Diep graduated with a degree in

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

and currently resides in

2018 election results

2020 election

References

External links

*
Campaign website

Join California Tyler Diep
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diep, Tyler Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in California Republican Party members of the California State Assembly California city council members San Diego State University alumni People from Westminster, California 1983 births Living people Vietnamese emigrants to the United States California politicians of Vietnamese descent Asian conservatism in the United States 21st-century members of the California State Legislature