| Huntington Beach, CA– Today, Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel announced the endorsements of the overwhelming majority of Orange County’s Vietnamese elected officials: |
- Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do
- State Assemblyman Tyler Diep
- State Assemblyman Van Tran, ret.
- Fountain Valley Councilman Michael Vo
- Westminster Mayor Tri Ta
- Westminster Vice Mayor Kimberly Ho
- Westminster Councilman Charlie Nguyen
- Westminster School District Trustee Khanh Nguyen
- Garden Grove Unified School District Trustee Lan Quoc Nguyen
- Orange County Water District Director Dina Nguyen
- Midway City Sanitary District Director Andrew Nguyen
“Supervisor Michelle Steel was one of the first Republican officials to stand up for our community when there was talk of deporting Vietnamese refugees arriving in America before 1995. She is a loyal friend of our community,” said Assemblyman Tyler Diep, California’s highest elected Vietnamese American official.
“When our community needed funding for the Vietnamese Military Officers Memorial Monument, Supervisor Michelle Steel answered our call for help. With Michelle’s support, we secured the necessary resources to construct the memorial monument in Westminster,” said Mayor Tri Ta, the country’s first directly elected Vietnamese-American mayor.
The 48th congressional district is home to nearly 40,000 Vietnamese voters and represents portions of Orange County’s Little Saigon, the world’s largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam.
Steel’s campaign previously announced the endorsements of Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes and Orange County Supervisors Lisa Bartlett, Andrew Do, and Don Wagner, as well as former U.S. Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, and Darrell Issa.
A Korean-American who immigrated to the United States, Michelle Steel first became interested in public service when her single mother struggled to fight an unwarranted tax bill from the California State Board of Equalization. As a first-generation immigrant and small business owner, Steel’s mother lacked the resources needed to appeal the state agency and reluctantly acquiesced to the board’s demands.
Watching her mother struggle instilled in Michelle Steel a desire to serve her community, help those in need, and be a strong voice for the voiceless. Steel successfully ran for the California State Board of Equalization where she pledged to oppose all new taxes, prevent any tax increases, and presume all taxpayers are innocent until proven guilty when adjudicating tax appeals.
As a California State Board of Equalization member, Michelle Steel was the country’s highest ranking Korean American officeholder and California’s highest-ranking Republican woman.
Orange County’s 2nd Supervisorial district overlaps 66% of California’s 48th congressional district.
The 48th district encompasses all or portions of Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, and Westminster.
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