 |
| The race for a California Congrssional district is between Rep. Michelle Steel, left, and Derek Tran. |
One of the most hotly contested congressional races that is still undecided involves two Asian American candidates against each other.
At last count hours ago, Democrat challenger Derek Tran leads incumbent Republican Michelle Steel by only 102 votes in the race for the 45th Congressional District seat in Orange County, California with 94% of the votes couted.
“Voters in Orange and Los Angeles County deserve to have their voices heard, and we are confident that as the remaining vote-by-mail, provisional, and conditional ballots are tallied, Derek Tran will emerge victorious,” reads the statement from the Tran campaign
Steel had an huge lead hours after the polls closed Nov. 5 but as the votes slowly came in, Tran's support chipped away at the Steel's lead. On the morning of Nov. 18, Tran had slim advantage of 32 votes. That lead grew as the ballots were counted today.
Both major parties poured in more than $46 million into the contest, making it the most expensive House race in the country.
CD45 crosses county lines to take in a portion of Los Angeles County and includes all of Garden Grove, Westminster, Cerritos, Buena Park, Placentia, Hawaiian Gardens, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Artesia, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, and La Palma, as well as parts of Brea, Lakewood, and Fullerton.
It has a large influential Asian American population makes up 39% of the population, the largest ethnic group in the district It includes Little Saigon, the largest Vietamese American neighborhood in the US. spanning Garden Grove and Westminister.
Steel, a Korean American, has been accused of using the same red-baiting strategy that she allegedly employed in 2022 to successfully defeat Taiwanese American veteran Jay Chen. The tactic of painting Tran as a communist sympathizer was not as successful.
"Michelle Steel has been known for red-baiting her entire campaign and career this is something that's very disgusting," said Tran. "We're seeing xenophobic attacks by here. It's just baseless claims by someone that's losing and she's expecting to win based on that messaging. It's not going to work this time around. I am son of Vietnamese refugees who fled communist Vietnam."
If Tran's lead holds, Orange County, long a GOP stronghold in a state dominated by the Democrats, could have two Asian American members in Congress. Democrat Dave Min, a state senator, won the right to represent District 47, replacing Representative Katie Porter who was unsuccessful in her bid for the US Senate.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.
No comments:
Post a Comment