In Orange County, the times they are a changing.
Vietnamese Americans are now the top elected officials in both of the cities that make up the majority of Little Saigon.
In Westminster, voters reelected Mayor Tri Ta. In neighboring Garden Grove, school trustee Bao Nguyen defeated longtime Garden Grove political figure Bruce Broadwater to become mayor of that city.
Nguyen’s race was a squeaker, and was not decided until well after election day. Nguyen won the race by just 15 votes, according to final tallies from the Orange County Registrar’s office.
Little Saigon is the nation’s largest Vietnamese American neighborhood, the heart of which lies in Westminster and Garden Grove.
In the same election, Vietnamese American Janet Nguyen, a Republican, defeated Democrat Jose Solorio in one of the most expensive legislatives races in the state this year.
In addition to becoming the youngest mayor in Garden Grove, Hguyen will become the first mayor of a U.S. city with more than 100,000 residents.