Review of all Viet candidates in the OC

OK, here we go, the authoritative list of all Viets running for various positions in Orange County. We’re looking at 14 Viets running for 15 positions. (Read more about some of them here.) The mathematical “Pigeonhole Principle” would tell you that it means someone is running for two positions at once. This is high, but not record high. In 2006, there were 16 Viet candidates in the OC.

* City Council of Westminster

With Kermit Marsh not running, the path is clear for Assemblyman Van Tran‘s staffer Truong Diep to run for the open seat. Tammy Tran, Senator Lou Correa‘s district director, pulled papers, but did not file. It is expected that Diep will win this one.

* City Council of Garden Grove

There are two seats and nine are vying for it. Three Vietnamese are in the running: T. Linh Ho, Trung Nguyen and Andrew Do.

Ho is a former student activist, very well known among young Vietnamese-Americans, but is a new name outside that demographic. Trung Nguyen is currently on the Garden Grove School Board and has been drumming up support by protesting against anything he can find. Andrew Do is OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen‘s chief of staff. The rumors about Do’s war chest are awashed with numbers so high it’s not believable.

* City Council of Stanton

There’s a Viet among the five candidates running for two seats, including both incumbents. His name is Alex Lam.

* Westminster School District

The district has two incumbents, both running again. Four Viets are challenging the incumbents for the seats: Ethan Nguyen, Nghia Nguyen, Linh Nguyen and Frank Tran.

Frank Tran (web site here) ran in 2006 as a write-in candidate. Ethan Nguyen is a Golden West College student who just received an OCAPICA scholarship to attend UCLA next year.

Linh Nguyen has dropped out of this race, but his name will continue to be on the ballot.

Talking to the Bolsavik on the telephone, the former right-hand man for then-Assembly candidate Van Tran and current sales manager at Nguoi Viet Daily News explained why: “I just took this job at Nguoi Viet, and the project I’m in charge of – the Nguoi Viet yellow pages – will be coming to a peak at the same time as the elections, so I don’t think I will have the time to commit to both. The paper also thinks it would be a conflict of interest for me to run, so I’m dropping out.”

* Garden Grove School District

With Trung Nguyen not running, there’s an open seat in addition to the two incumbencies. Incumbent Dr. Kim-Oanh NguyenLam is running, and she’s expected to win. Also running is John Chuong Nguyen, a telecommunications engineer who also ran in 2006.

Back then, Lan Quoc Nguyen worked hard to help incumbent Bob Harden beat back John Chuong Nguyen’s challenge. This time, Lan is already campaigning on behalf of candidate George West, again trying to beat back John Chuong Nguyen. The Bolsavik has no idea what Lan has against John Chuong; John Chuong has nothing against the Trannies that the Bolsavik knows of.

* Rancho Santiago Community College District, Area 1

Nam M. Pham, a Santa Ana Library Board member, is running for 1 of 3 seats. Two of the incumbents are running, the third filed papers but withdrew.

* Mr. Two-Seater

Trannie Joseph Dovinh is running for two positions, both seemingly under the radar: Coast Community College District, Area 2; and Midway City Sanitary District.

In the Coast College District, though, Dovinh would be taking on Jerry Patterson, a former U.S. Congressman, predecessor of Bob Dornan. Maybe some seats are not as far under the radar as Dovinh thought.