Janet Nguyen

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Janet Nguyen

Janet Nguyen (born 1976) is county supervisor of the first district in Orange County, California. She won her seat following an unprecedented special election where two Vietnamese-American candidates received the most number of votes in a field of 10, separated from each other by only 7 votes. She was sworn in on March 27, 2007, after a lengthy court battle. She is the youngest person to be elected to the board of supervisors, the first woman to be elected to that district, and the first Vietnamese-American county supervisor in the United States. Prior to her election to the board of supervisors, she served as a city council member for Garden Grove.

1 Personal life
2 Special Election 2007
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Personal life

Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam. Her family joined millions of others in becoming boat people when she was 5, coming to California in 1981. They first lived in San Bernardino, but settled in Garden Grove in 1990. She attended the University of California, Irvine, at first to become an obstetrician, but later majored in political science after she was inspired by then-supervisor Bill Steiner^[1]. She is married to Tom Bonikowski.

[edit] Special Election 2007

Following the election of Supervisor Lou Correa to the state senate in the 2006 midterm election, his seat was open. Ten candidates filed for the seat in the February 6, 2007 special election, including three Vietnamese Americans, who are all Republicans. While the 1st District Supervisorial seat is non-partisan, the leading candidate was Tom Umberg, a Democrat who had the full support of the labor unions. While the Republican Party did not endorse a candidate, party leaders were backing Carlos Bustamante.

With three Vietnamese-American candidates, the large Vietnamese-American community who comprise a quarter of registered voters in the first district was galvanized. Janet Nguyen's main opponent, Trung Nguyen, had the support of State Assemblyman Van Tran, who had helped Janet Nguyen get elected in 2004. Issues that the candidates discussed include illegal immigration, one that county supervisors don't have authority to affect. The debate was more heated among the Vietnamese-American community, with accusations flying back and forth between the two Nguyen camps. Trung Nguyen was insulted as a "fob," while Janet Nguyen was criticized for not being fluent in Vietnamese. Pundits speculated that the three Vietnamese-American candidates would split the Vietnamese-American vote, allowing Umberg to easily win election.

With high absentee voter turnout among the Vietnamese-American community, it became clear on election night that Janet Nguyen and Trung Nguyen were leading. Umberg and Bustamante were in third and fourth place, respectively, and quickly conceded defeat. At the end of the night, Janet Nguyen was leading by 52 votes. When all the votes are counted on the following day, however, Trung Nguyen was leading by seven votes. Janet Nguyen requested a recount, and the final result was 10,919 votes for Janet Nguyen and 10,912 votes for Trung Nguyen. Janet Nguyen was certified the winner.

However, Trung Nguyen's lawyers filed lawsuit challenging the recount, alleging that the Registrar of Voters improperly voided votes for him and awarded votes to Janet Nguyen in the recount. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to postpone inaugurating Janet Nguyen. On March 26, she was named the winner, winning by just 3 votes. She would be sworn in on the following day.

[edit] References

^ Dana Parsons. "She's in second place, but don't count her out", Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2007. Retrieved on March 1, 2007.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Lou Correa	Orange County Supervisor 1st District 2007–	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Van Tran	Council Member City of Garden Grove 2004–2007	Succeeded by —