• Source: Derek Tran

Derek Tran (born 1980 or 1981) is an American labor lawyer. He is the Democratic nominee challenging Republican incumbent Michelle Steel in the 2024 election for California's 45th congressional district. He has previously served as a traffic commissioner for Orange as well as established his own law firm.




Background


Tran grew up in the San Gabriel Valley as the son of Vietnamese refugees. His father escaped from Vietnam following the fall of Saigon in 1975, but his wife and children were killed after their boat capsized. Later, Tran's father returned to Vietnam where he would meet Tran's mother, after which they immigrated to the United States together. Growing up, Tran worked at a corner store that his family opened.
When he turned 18, Tran enlisted in the United States Army. He spent eight years serving. Afterward, Tran went to law school. In 2012, he moved to Orange County, California.




Career


Tran has worked as an attorney since 2014; he started his own firm called Tran Firm in Huntington Beach in 2020. Specifically, he has worked as a consumer rights, labor rights, and personal injury attorney. In 2023, Feher Law, a practice in Torrance, acquired Tran's firm.
Tran has served on the board of the Consumer Attorneys Association of America. He has also served as a traffic commissioner for Orange. With his wife, he co-owns a pharmacy in Anaheim and tutors underprivileged children at a nearby school.




2024 House election


At the end of 2023, Tran announced that he would enter the Democratic primary in a bid to become the party's nominee for the U.S. Representative seat in California's 45th congressional district. In March, Tran secured his position as the Democratic nominee, beating another candidate, Kim Nguyen-Penaloza, by 366 votes.
After winning the March primary, Tran became the Democratic nominee to challenge Michelle Steel, a Republican running for a third term. The district is considered a "battleground district" insofar as it was won by Joe Biden in 2020 but has its seat occupied by a member of the Republican Party. Tran's campaign has emphasized the centrality of his Vietnamese American identity to his bid, as the district encompasses parts of Los Angeles County and Orange County and is considered a majority-minority district, including cities Westminster and Garden Grove, which have predominantly Vietnamese American communities, as well as Artesia and Cerritos where Asian Americans are the largest demographic by race. ABC 7 reported that the district was 39% Asian.




= Endorsements

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Tran was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times. The editorial board stated that "In contrast to Steel, he is a believer in helping Americans gain quality, affordable education and healthcare—and respecting their freedom to make their own medical and family decisions." He also received endorsements from the Asian American Action Fund, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Reproductive Freedom for All, End Citizens United, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
In October, Hakeem Jeffries stumped for Tran at a party event in Anaheim, stating that the race would be close. In November, Bill Clinton appeared in Orange County to stump for Tran as well as Dave Min, a state senator in a similarly tight race.




= Outreach to Vietnamese community

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During the campaign, Steel claimed that she understood and worked with the Vietnamese community in the district much better than Tran. Shortly after, Tran called the remarks "insulting and disgraceful." The Asian American Action Fund subsequently condemned Steel's comments. In August 2024, the New York Post called out Tran for bringing a translator with him to interviews and events, questioning whether he was actually fluent in Vietnamese. Steel's campaign additionally used Tran's waning proficiency as a point of criticism. At the end of August, Tran admitted to the Los Angeles Times that he had lost his childhood fluency and has since spoken "broken Vietnamese." However, Tran's campaign additionally provided a series of video clips in which Tran occasionally spoke Vietnamese on television.
In May 2024, Tran attempted to draw distinctions between his own family background to that of Steel's, stating that Steel immigrated to the United States for "economic gain," not because she was a refugee fleeing communism. Several Asian American leaders and organizations subsequently condemned Tran's comment and asked him to apologize to Steel.




= Allegations of communist sympathies

=
In the months leading up to the 2024 election, Tran accused Steel's husband, Shawn, of accepting bribes from the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for information, stating that Steel thus could not be trusted with political office in the United States.
Later, on October 22, 2024, the Los Angeles Times reported that Steel's campaign was sending out campaign mailers associating Tran with Mao Zedong and accusing him of supporting socialism. Following Tran's disclosure in August that he held cryptocurrencies, Steel also claimed that his cryptocurrency assets were bound up in China. In the ensuing controversy, Steel defended her position, stating it was a provoked defense from Tran's earlier messaging. The mutual accusations caused several Asian American nonprofits to pen a letter to both parties stating that such rhetoric should not be used in the race.




Political positions






= Law enforcement

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Tran has expressed support for Proposition 36, or the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, arguing that it will maintain order but also provide rehabilitation and "second chances" to community members.




= Economy

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Tran supports a tax deduction on state and local taxes on California, stating it causes undue burden to the middle-class living in the state. He has also expressed his desire to reduce taxes and eliminate bureaucratic red tape to support small businesses and middle-class families nationwide; he is additionally interested in investing in manufacturing in the United States, combating price gouging, protecting labor rights, and making the minimum wage livable.




= Social services

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Tran has expressed his support for protecting Medicare and Social Security.




= Housing

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Tran supports federal funding for affordable housing through expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, endorsing public–private partnerships, and creating new grants at the federal level to help local and state governments nationwide with low- and middle-income households. With regard to homelessness, he supports a Housing First approach as well as investments in mental health and substance abuse services.




= Environment

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Tran has refused donations from the fossil fuel industry. He has stated his intentions to invest more money into Southern California's infrastructure to support public transportation and jobs in clean energy. He supports renewable energy and has indicated that he would ban offshore drilling while endorsing policies that develop clean energy, impose penalties on polluting entities, and protect water in the state of California.




= Reproductive health

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Tran considers abortion to be a "number one issue" in his district. He supports nationwide legislation that provides access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments as well as reproductive rights writ large, stating that individuals should be able to make medical and health decisions about their own bodies without government interference; he also stated he would vote for abortion rights at the federal level and that he supports Planned Parenthood.




= Immigration

=
Tran has criticized the Republican Party's hardball stance on immigration, stating that mass deportations were inhumane. He has shared his own ideas for immigration reform that emphasizes technology and officer training, modernizing asylum procedures, and "a fair path to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants who are already contributing to our economy and society." He also stated that he would reintroduce the bipartisan border security bill that previously didn't pass.




= Healthcare

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Tran stated that he would take on insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry in order to reduce the costs of health care and prescription drugs.




= Supreme Court

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When asked about Joe Biden's proposed reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court, Tran specifically advocated for justices to put all of their relevant assets into blind trusts, to be forbidden from accepting gifts, and to be especially scrutinized for potentially "partisan actions they or their family members may be engaged in." Ahead of the March primary in 2024, he stated that Clarence Thomas' behavior around gifts was unacceptable. However, Tran does not support an expansion of the courts.




= Artificial intelligence

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Tran supports federal-level regulations on artificial intelligence in order to minimize deepfakes, establish penalties for misuse, and clearly label generated content.




= Foreign policy

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Tran has declared support for America's allies, specifically Ukraine and Israel, as well as the broader principle of promoting democracy and stability across the globe.




= Age limits

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Tran has indicated interest in the possibility of age limits for presidential and Congressional candidates.




Personal life


Tran lives in Orange with his wife, Michelle, and their three children. He is a fan of EDM music.




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