The first time David Nguyen voted for a Democrat was in 2008 when he chose Barack Obama, the first Black president in U.S. history.
Despite being a registered Republican who grew up in a Republican-supporting household, Nguyen’s presidential picks have varied. He picked Obama in 2008 because he viewed him as a candidate who could fix the economic issues of the time. But he picked Donald Trump in 2016 before picking another Democrat, Joe Biden in 2020.
This year, Nguyen, a Fountain Valley resident, said he’s leaning toward Vice President Kamala Harris.
Voters like Nguyen, 47, represent the dynamic and ever-changing voter sentiment in Orange County’s Little Saigon, said Mary Anne Foo, a longtime Orange County resident and executive director of the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance.
Several Vietnamese voters in Orange County, including Nguyen, shared their priorities and concerns in the leadup to the November election — from the presidential race to local contests — during a few recent afternoons in Little Saigon, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. Issues ranged from the economy and inflation to education and health care.
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In Little Saigon, home to the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam, voter behavior has fluctuated strongly in the past decade or so.
Many Little Saigon neighborhoods — mainly in Garden Grove and Westminster — chose Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but later reversed course and backed former President Trump in 2020.
In 2016, according to the secretary of state’s office, nearly 6 in 10 voters in Garden Grove and Westminster cast a ballot for Clinton, and in 2020, just more than half of voters in those two cities collectively chose Trump.
“Each candidate, no matter who they are, can’t make the assumption that they’re going to keep their jobs, because the area is in a transformative mode,” said Foo. “I think that’s where candidates have to really know their community members and what the issues are.”
Phuong Phan, an adult education teacher who lives in Garden Grove, said she feels that neither party is addressing the economy in a way in which she could understand how it would make life better for her and her family. There needs to be more conversation among presidential contenders about policy, she said.
“My family is highly educated; we feel that we are hardworking people,” said Phan, 39. “But even finding jobs is difficult. My brother has a master’s degree in finance and business, and he can’t find a job for the last year and a half. That’s what I mean by, ‘it’s reaching our family.’”
“We have education and years of experience. And if we’re struggling to put food on the table, I think greater America is suffering more,” she added.
Phan, a registered Democrat, said she’s still not sure who she’ll vote for in the presidential contest. She needs to hear more from Harris and Trump on how they plan to address the economy at the local level, she said.
Nationwide, nearly 9 in 10 Vietnamese American voters ranked jobs, the economy and inflation as issues that are “extremely” or “very” important to them when deciding how to vote in the upcoming election, according to the Asian American Voter Survey conducted by the nonpartisan nonprofit Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote from April 4 to May 26.
At all levels of government, from federal to local, Foo said small business owners might lean toward a party or candidate who speaks to them about lowering taxes and fees they’re required to pay, given that the Little Saigon area is filled with Vietnamese-owned small businesses.
“The economy really does influence people — the high cost of gas, the amount of taxes and that small businesses and family businesses have to pay,” she said.
That’s true for Nolan Tran, a 34-year-old shop owner in the Asian Garden Mall, who said he’s concerned about his business as a second-generation businessman.
While Tran won’t vote in this election — he came to the U.S. in 2022 and is waiting to receive his green card — he said he would want more clarity on where his tax money goes.
“We need to know about tax and what they are using our taxes for,” Tran said, adding that he feels he pays too much in taxes.
Experiences with burglary, robbery, vandalism and shoplifting can come with running a small business, and shopowners may be inclined toward a party or candidate who talks about hard-on-crime policies, Foo said.
“That’s their whole life. Those are their life savings. They’re working 16-hour days and putting everything into their business,” she said. “And so when they’re seeing on the news, or experiencing themselves, of people breaking in, taking things and getting away with it, I think that really impacts people.”
Eight in 10 Vietnamese American voters, according to the national survey, said crime is “extremely” or “very” important when deciding how to vote this year.
The money that comes out of small business owners’ pockets due to crime in the area is concerning, said Nguyen, the owner of dessert restaurant Meet Fresh in Westminster. Nguyen said some of the businesses in the plaza were robbed earlier this year, and tenants had to pitch in more to pay for security.
“Anytime there is an increase in expenses like repairs, security and maintenance, it ends up being paid by the tenants,” he said.
Some younger voters also expressed concern over inflation and rising costs, including Nicole Takao, who was busy making boba milk tea at her parents’ Kung Fu Tea shop as she mulled over what would inform her vote this year.
As a college student who works part-time at her family-owned business, the Westminster resident said she’ll be heavily weighing student debt policies this November.
“Right now I’m in community college, so they have these programs for taking classes. But when I move out in the future I feel like it will be hard,” said Takao, who attends Golden West College.
Takao said she’s also worried about how she’ll bear the high costs of housing and groceries as a college student.
“Apartment prices are high right now,” she said. “How am I going to survive if I live on my own and have to pay for meals and groceries?”
In a shift from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations, many of whom escaped from communism, national surveys show that younger voters’ concerns lie with different issues, such as social justice, women’s rights and climate change.
“A good president does not marginalize communities and addresses systematic oppression, and also issues of the future,” said Hannah Tjoa, 24, who recently graduated from Cal State Fullerton. “Someone who’s humble, and for the people.”
She said she would examine how candidates address LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, homelessness and reproductive health care.
Voters who are parents, like Vicky Nguyen, are also focusing on education. While she said she is not sure how she will vote this November, the mother of two will be weighing stances on education and health care.
Her ideal candidate would also promote American business and tackle inflation.
“Everything is expensive. I have a lot of friends moving states. And it’s really hard to get a house,” she said.
A Westminster resident who’s lived in Orange County for 30 years, Vicky Nguyen said she also once planned on moving but ultimately opted to stay in Orange County for its food and culture. The schools her children attend are doing a great job educating them, she said.
Alexander Nguyen of Huntington Beach said he’s looking forward to how candidates address public school funding.
“I would say people around my demographic, in their 20s, think a lot about … education as well because we’ve lived through how hard it is to have an education that doesn’t break the bank,” he said.
The rising cost of education for young college students is concerning, said Theresa Tran, a Midway City resident who works as a counselor.
“It impacts the social mobility of people in our community,” she said.
Another barrier to social mobility is the housing crisis in the state, she said. She’ll be considering homelessness, social welfare, education and the environment when voting this year, but housing is her main concern.
“I see it impacts the community I work with, the children,” Theresa Tran said. “Families are unable to have stable housing or to find work. Because poverty is generational, if they don’t have enough money to eat, poverty will continue.”
The registered Democrat said she doesn’t always vote on party lines. But this year, for her, Harris is promising.
“She’ll do a much better job at recognizing the need to consider all ethnic groups as opposed to how the majority of our presidents before were White. I think she will be able to represent us better,” Theresa Tran said.
Foo said she believes voters are increasingly questioning what candidates stand for and how their positions are impacting them.
“People are really looking at values and voting by values. And so I think voter behavior will continue to change,” she said.
