Is detente possible between Janet Nguyen and Van Tran?
June 4th, 2008, 3:27 pm · 16 Comments · posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Garden Grove, said he called Supervisor Janet Nguyen today to congratulate her.
“It was a fair victory this time, without controversy,” he said, unlike last year’s special election when Tran’s candidate initially the winner before a recount and court ruling left Janet ahead by three votes. “We have to put the election behind us and be professionals and work together for the community.”
Does he see Janet as a good and effective leader for the community, with whom he will have a close alliance?
“That remains to be seen,” he said.
Indeed, many say it will take some time to heal the rift that erupted last year between Van Tran’s extensive Little Saigon network and the independent-minded Janet Nguyen.
The Republican Party’s admiration and respect for Tran began growing by leaps and bounds during his successful 2004 Assembly campaign, when he registered thousands of new Republican voters in Little Saigon.
“He’s been the primary reason we’ve turned around central Orange County,” said county GOP Chairman Scott Baugh.
But that battle between Janet and Tran-backed Trung Nguyen in last year’s special election for central county supervisor dampened that affection for Tran. Both candidates were Republicans, and the intra-party squabbling was distasteful and unproductive for many in the GOP.
Tensions were furthered heightened by ongoing legal challenges of Janet’s win. Then the county GOP - and many key GOP leaders - endorsed Janet this year against Tran candidate Dina Nguyen, a move that pushed Tran a least a little toward the margins.
“I talked to a lot of people who were upset with (Tran) for going against the party,” said state Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, who endorsed Janet. “A lot of donor groups and elected officials weren’t pleased with that.”
The break from what was basically a non-stop campaign stretching from last year’s special election to yesterday’s decisive Janet Nguyen win will give time for wounds to heal. But it will take more than a phone call to bring the two together, as Tran, Baugh, Ackerman and others readily acknowledge.
Tran says he’s ready to move forward.
“I see it as a difference of opinion in the Republican Party and once the difference is settled, we get back together and move on,” he said. “That healing process begins today.
“I’m completely professional and sober about this. Look at Obama and Hillary. They’ve been beating on each other for two years, but they’re going to have to work together.”
On one hand, skepticism remains about Tran’s sincerity in working with Janet. On the other, he wrestled long and hard behind the scenes as he prepared for a run for state Senate in 2006 - but eventually deferred to Ackerman’s choice of Lynn Daucher to be the GOP nominee.
Daucher ended up losing to Democrat Lou Correa, but came closer than many anticipated thanks in large measure to Tran’s strong effort on her behalf in Little Saigon.
But the dustup with Janet Nguyen depleted a lot of the good will he’d created. And even if Tran’s intention is to fulfill the politically correct notion of bridging the divide, a resolve will also require Janet’s whole-hearted participation.
“It’s appropriate and necessary for all victors to reach out to those who weren’t in their camp, so we can move forward,” said Baugh, who readily acknowledges that his role is to help bring the two sides together.
The divide between Janet and Tran has been reflected in the Little Saigon electorate. But Tran says the goals for the community are similar for both sides.
”It would be too simplistic to say that the community speaks with the same voice, but it speaks in the same direction with different voices,” he said.
I’ve got a call in to Janet’s chief of staff, Andrew Do, among others, and hope to continue to flesh out the situation over the next day.
UPDATE: Moments after I posted this, Matt Cunningham posted his thoughts on the conflict here, on the Red County blog.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Mr. Tran’s no good at all, what did he do for vietnamese community or for California the last few years ???
June 4th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Van Tran will be history. My family and I can’t wait until the general election in November to vote Democrat. There are 5 votes in my household that Van Tran will lose.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Tran Thai Van support ed Trung Nguyen in last special election. Trung Nguyen lost. On June 3 he supported Dina Nguyen. Dina Nguyen lost.
You know whom Tran Thai Van is associated with.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
After Janets sell out and back door deals to get Walters in as a candidate for the appointment for Sheriff I will never give her money ever again nor will my family support or vote for her no matter what office she runs for. The last 5 months has really shown our family and friends where Janets loyalty lays and that is with herself. I can’t wait to vote against her and give her opponent our money.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Tran is big liar.He is a bad politican.He will not get any penies from my pocket and my friends’ votes,my families’ votes,my vote.
He is a stupid man .He will never be elected in Cali Senator.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Dk,
Either you are living in a cave or in a comatose condition for the past three years to make such an irresponsible statement like that against Assemblyman Van Tran. Your bias and pettiness show through quite clearly. If it weren’t for Tran, how many Vietnamese-Americans are elected to public office now.
Try on former Westminster Councilman Tony Lam, a Janet Nguyen supporter, who sat on the city council for 10 years. Tell me what he did before you criticizeTran.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Bolsa,
Van Tran IS making history because he is the most senior and the first Vietnamese-American state legislator in the U.S. Janet Nguyen and others are following in his wake because of the “tails” that he created for them.
Based on the votes he received last night as the GOP candidate, versus his Demofratic opponent in November, Van Tran is doing better this election than all of his past legislative races.
For your 5 votes to a Democrat candidate, Tran will surely trade it in for 50. Keep on wishing because like it or not, he’s YOUR Assemblyman until at least 2010!
June 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Vietnamese community needs to look for someone to replace Van Tran in next election.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Assemblyman Van Tran will be a presence in the OC for a long, long time. He is a political leader who gets things done. He will do very well leading Orange County and the Vietnamese-American community in the entire state of California, not just this area. He has proven himself many times over the years and has helped moved the community along.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:58 am
To the few Van Tran haters:
Get out of bed and get a life! Tran is a presence and a political force and that’s reality. He has earned his stripes and paid his dues. Get a grip on your hatred and live with it.
June 5th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
What exactly has Tran done for the community in the last few years can you name anything ?? He flew over the border, landed looked around with his full complement of staff with him (at who’s expense?); and waged a scorched earth policy campaign against Janet Nguyen just because she had the audacity to have a mind of her own. Look who he chose to support…Dina Nguyen…didn’t have much of a presence of her own. Janet does. Tran plays dirty politics, even unseating good republicans to replace them with Viet republicans….I hope he turns around and represents ALL the people and not just the Viets. Janet has done an excellent job of reaching across those lines. He should take notes.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
There is a guy named quang pham who will be entering the political arena in central county and seeking the republican nomination to run against loretta sanchez in 2010.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
That’s right. Tran is doing a lot of things for the Vietnamese community (not the general community). He could do a lot, but he plays the dirty game of political bullying, and I found that extremely low and distasteful. He gathers all the VN-American elected officials who are willing to kiss his a$$ to bully a woman. That is a petty act of a coward, not a gentleman, or a well-respected leader. So what if he can gather so many Republican voters in Little Saigon? Most of them are uninformed voters. If those Little Saigon voters hear something about “anti-communist”, they’ll vote for him. It has nothing to do with the larger community. The party is still very naive believing the sincerity of these Little Saigon politicians. Despite what they say, their loyalty is NOT toward America nor the general American community.
June 5th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Commentator,
Are you residing in the same cave with DK? Read the blog post above to your so-called “comment”.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
See, you all Tran followers should be quiet and let the woman do her job.. This is typical of you : being bad sports, holding grudges, and spoil things that you can’t have. Those people like you can never look at the bigger picture and see the benefit of the broader community, instead you are focusing on petty issues, setting scores and wish death on your rivals.
The woman is working hard. Leave her alone. Van Tran and the gang has enough bullying power. They don’t need you. Be an independent thinker for once! Tran is not your father so don’t kiss his a$$ and swallow every word he says. !