Little Saigon

Road to Congress could lead through Little Saigon

Much like Little Havana in Miami, the politics of Little Saigon in Orange County have been forged by the experiences of an immigrant population that fled a communist regime.

By Melanie Mason and Dustin Gardiner

The battle to court the pivotal Vietnamese American voter bloc in a toss-up Orange County, California House district is getting more intense — and more personal — by the day.

The latest salvo came from Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, who is Korean American and said that she was “more Vietnamese” than her Democratic opponent, Derek Tran, the son of Vietnamese refugees.

“My opponent may have a Vietnamese last name, but I understand [the] Vietnamese community,” Steel said in an appearance on a Vietnamese-language interview program.

The brief comments, which caught instant flak online, including from Tran himself, were a succinct distillation of the increasingly bitter battle in California’s 45th district. For both candidates, the road to Congress could very well run through Little Saigon and which candidate can best appeal to that critical community.

Much like Little Havana in Miami, the politics of Little Saigon have been forged by the experiences of an immigrant population that fled a communist regime. Local politicians, especially Republicans, have often invoked that painful history in an effort to appeal to voters who have a deep fear of the communist parties in China and Vietnam.

Tran has also jabbed at Steel’s own immigrant backstory, asserting that her family left Korea and came to America for “economic gain” and not because they were refugees fleeing communism.