In the general election to be held on November 5, incumbent Tri Ta and Jimmy Pham are running for the 70th Assembly District.
This district is in the southwest of the state and includes, among others, the coastal towns of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Midway City, Rossmoor, Stanton, Westminster, and portions of Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Seal Beach, as detailed in its official site.
It includes Orange County’s Little Saigon in Westminster, home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans in the country.
A total of 521,000 Vietnamese They consider California their home.
According to the latest census data, the district has a population of 466,725 residents. Of them, 38% are Asian, 34% Hispanic and 23% white. 40% of its population was born outside the United States, especially Asian residents (65%), 50% more than the average in California (26.5%) and more than double that of the rest of the United States (13.7%)
The election of Republican Tri Ta in 2022 shows that in the June 7 primary, the Democratic challenger, Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen, received 40% of the votes against 21% of the current incumbent. The rest went to other Republican candidates, who in the November general election unified behind Tri Ta’s candidacy.
Democrat Jimmy Pham is an immigration attorney born in the United States to Vietnamese parents. He attended college at the University of California Irvine and earned his law degree locally.
He began his public service experience as President-designate of the City of Westminster Traffic Commission and then as a candidate for the City Council of that city, in 2022.
In the March 5 primariesboth Tri Ta and Jimmy Pham ran and They went to the national elections in November, the incumbent with 46,752 votes (59%) and the Democrat with 31,812 (41%).
For her positions and her work, she has received the support of the leader of the Latin community, Dolores Huerta.
Furthermore, they support the main unions at the national and California level, as well as organizations defending the environment and reproductive rights.
Additionally, a long list of elected officials such as state Attorney General Rob Bonta, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Congressman Lou Correa who represents the area support Pham.
As an activist, she focused on the living conditions of residents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) migrant detention centers. In this context, their positions relative to the Latino community show a similarity of interests.
Within the framework of his legal work, he successfully worked for thousands of Central American families who were seeking work permits, requesting asylum, wanting to renew DACA status and avoid deportation. He also supports sanctuary cities and shares the need to protect immigrants, saying:
“We must vehemently protect sanctuary cities and our sanctuary state policy. In 2018, SB 54 extended local sanctuary city protections for immigrants living in California,” he said.
These positions are derived from his pro-working class ideology, focused on workers’ rights, unionization and collective bargaining, as well as public education and the regulation of charter schools.
He also places importance on the campaign for affordable housing for people with limited incomes, and advocates for expanded health care and simplified immigration processes.
She has received the support of Planned Parenthood and is committed to fighting in Sacramento for the expansion of women’s reproductive rights and for environmental justice.
For its part, Tri Ta is located on a CalMatters chart on the far right of the Republican party. He supports former President Trump, of whom he said, according to AsAm News, who “offers common sense solutions while Kamala Harris presents unrealistic promises.” Tri Ta has been one of two California assemblymen to send his endorsement to Trump. The other is Bill Essayli, from the 63rd district.
Says Jimmy Pham regarding immigration: “The US immigration system is broken. I see this firsthand every day as an immigration attorney. “I have fought to streamline our immigration and asylum processes to reduce waiting times for approval.”
Due to his principles and his legislative plans, due to the range of support he has, La Opinion considers that Jimmy Pham is the best candidate for the position and calls on his public in the 70th district to vote for him on November 5.
