Tan D. Nguyen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tan Duc Nguyen (born 1973) is a two-time candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in California. In 2004, he sought the Democratic Party nomination to run against incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher in California's 46th congressional district. In 2006, he ran as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Loretta Sanchez in California's 47th congressional district.

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[edit] Biography

Nguyen was born Nguyễn Đức Tân[1] in Da Nang, South Vietnam, in 1973. In 1981, six years after the Fall of Saigon, he and his family became boat people. They settled in California, where Nguyen attended the University of California, Los Angeles. He later was graduated from the University of Minnesota with a baccalaureate and emphases on business-economics, biochemistry and Asian studies. Nguyen married Hanh Lam and settled in southern California, working for American Express.

[edit] 2004 Congressional campaign as a Democrat

In 2004, Nguyen lost the 46th district Democratic primary to Jim Brandt,[2] who lost to incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher by a 30% margin.[3]

[edit] 2006 Congressional campaign as a Republican

Nguyen won the Republican Party's endorsement to run for the 47th Congressional District of California in the June 6, 2006 primary election with 55.4% of the votes in a three-way race[4]. He lost to incumbent Loretta Sanchez in the November election, receiving 37.6% of the votes.[5]

[edit] Campaign mailing controversy

Nguyen's campaign was linked to a widely criticized Spanish-language mailing allegedly warning immigrants not to vote, threatening them with prison or deportation.[6] As translated in the press at the time, it read in part:

You are being sent this letter because you were recently registered to vote. If you are a citizen of the United States, we ask that you participate in the democratic process of voting. You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in imprisonment, and you will be deported for voting without having the right to do so.[7]

The letter was issued on what appeared to be the letterhead of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, however its head denied any involvement.[8] Nguyen denied any personal involvement in the incident, and stated that an employee in his office who might have been responsible had since been fired.[9] Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh, on the other hand, stated that the party executive committee voted unanimously to recommend that Nguyen withdraw from the election. "I learned information that allows me to draw the conclusion that not only was Mr. Nguyen's campaign involved in this, but that Mr. Nguyen was personally involved in expediting the mailer," he stated. On Friday, October 20, California Department of Justice agents raided Nguyen's campaign headquarters in Garden Grove and his home in Santa Ana, "hauling off computers and bags of evidence."[10]

On May 16, 2007, the Department of Justice investigation determined that there was no evidence that Nguyen's campaign had an intent to intimidate those legally entitled to vote. The investigation had found that the original draft of the letter (in English) had warned illegals and those with green cards against voting, but elsewhere had encouraged those with U.S. citizenship to vote. The phrase "those with green cards" had then been translated into "emigrado," for the Spanish-language letter that was mailed; this had later been translated back into English as "immigrant" when the letter was brought to light in the media. Senior Assistant Attorney General David Schons stated that the investigation found that Nguyen did in fact know about the letter before it was mailed, in contradiction to Nguyen's repeated assertions that he was not aware of it. Nguyen, who continued to deny involvement with the letter, in other respects stated satisfaction with the investigation results, and considered himself "exonerated".[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Giới chức bang California điều tra về lá thư dọa tống giam di dân đi bầu cử", Voice of America, Broadcasting Board of Governors, 2006-10-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-22. (Vietnamese) 
  2. ^ Official 2004 primary election results from the Secretary of State of California
  3. ^ Official 2004 general election results from the Secretary of State of California
  4. ^ Official 2006 primary election results from the Secretary of State of California
  5. ^ Official 2006 election results from the Secretary of State of California
  6. ^ Spanish-language mailing linked to Tan Nguyen campaign
  7. ^ Santana, Norberto, Jr. "Nguyen's campaign office raided", The Orange County Register, October 21, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-23. 
  8. ^ Delson, Jennifer. "State Investigating Intimidating Letter Sent to O.C. Latinos", Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-26. 
  9. ^ Prengaman, Peter. "OC GOP urges candidate whose campaign sent letter to withdraw", Associated Press, October 19, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-23. 
  10. ^ Delson, Jennifer; Goffard, Christopher and Tran, Mai. "Raids Widen 'Immigrant' Letter Probe", Los Angeles Times, October 21 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-23. 
  11. ^ Tan Nguyen cleared by State Attorney General from the OC Register

[edit] External links