Van Thai Tran (; born October 19, 1964) is a Vietnamese American attorney and politician in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, formerly serving as a Republican 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 ...

, representing portions of Orange County. Tran and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

State Representative Hubert Vo were the highest-ranking Vietnamese American elected officials in U.S. history until

Joseph Cao Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao ( ; ; born March 13, 1967) is a Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese-American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United ...

was elected to the United States House of Representatives in December 2008. Tran took office one month before Vo did, making him the first Vietnamese American to serve in a state legislature. He served in the Assembly as Assistant Republican Leader.

Early life, education and career

Born in

Saigon 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 ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

, Tran and his family emigrated to the United States after being evacuated by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

one week before the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

, when he was 10 years old. After originally settling in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, they moved to Orange County when Tran was a teenager. Tran worked as an intern and later as a staff aide for Congressman Bob Dornan and for

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 ...

Ed Royce while a student at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, where he earned a B.A. in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1990. Tran completed a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

from

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

and a J.D. from Hamline University School of Law. He was admitted to the California State Bar in 1994. In 2000, Tran was elected to the 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 ...

with the highest number of votes in city history and became only the second Vietnamese American man to be elected to office in the United States ( Tony Lam was the first when he was elected to the city council of neighboring

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, ...

in 1992). After serving one term on the council, he was elected to the California State Assembly to replace outgoing Republican state assemblyman Ken Maddox, who was forced to retire due to term limits. Tran was re-elected to the Assembly in 2006 and 2008.

California State Assembly

Tran represented the 68th District. He was the Vice Chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. He also served on the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee and the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee. In June 2007, he was appointed by the Assembly Speaker as chairman of the Select Committee on International Trade.

Political campaigns

2006

On December 21, 2005, Tran announced that he would launch an

exploratory committee In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for pre ...

for a 2006 run against Democratic First District Orange County Supervisor Lou Correa in the race for the State Senate seat being vacated by

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

ed Democrat Joe Dunn. Tran opted not to join the race, allowing Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher to win the Republican nomination with nominal opposition, and she went on to lose the general election to Correa by a 1% margin. Instead, Tran ran for re-election to the Assembly, and on November 7, 2006, won re-election with 62% of the vote.

2010

Being termed out of the State Assembly, Tran challenged incumbent congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Tran was endorsed by

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

. He lost the general election to Sanchez by 14 percentage points: 53% to 39%

2014

Tran announced that he would run for State Board of Equalization representing District 4. He ran, but lost the primary to state Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, who went on to easily win the general election.

References

External links

Official Campaign web site
*
Financial information
at OpenSecrets.org
The New Face of the Grand Old Party

Join California Van Tran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Van 1964 births Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in California Living people California politicians of Vietnamese descent California lawyers Hamline University alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly University of California, Irvine alumni Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Hamline University School of Law alumni Asian conservatism in the United States 21st-century members of the California State Legislature Politicians from Ho Chi Minh City