(Article translated from original, "Por Jimmy Pham para la Asamblea Estatal de California," www.laopinion.com)
Because of his principles and his legislative plans, and because of the range of support he has, La Opinión considers Jimmy Pham to be the best candidate for the position.
By Editorial
02 Oct 2024, 13:40 PM EDT
Incumbent Tri Ta and Jimmy Pham are running for Assembly District 70 in the Nov. 5 general election.
This district is located in the southwest of the state and includes, among others, the coastal towns of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Midway City, Rossmoor, Stanton, Westminster, and portions of Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Seal Beach, as detailed on its official website.
Includes Orange County's Little Saigon in Westminster, home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans in the country.
A total of 521,000 Vietnamese call California home.
According to the latest census data, the district has a population of 466,725 residents. Of those, 38% are Asian, 34% Hispanic, and 23% white. Forty percent of its population was born outside the United States, especially Asian residents (65%), 50% more than the average in California (26.5%) and more than double that of the rest of the United States (13.7%).
Republican Tri Ta's 2022 election shows that in the June 7 primary, Democratic challenger Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen received 40% of the vote to the incumbent's 21%. The remainder went to other Republican candidates, who unified behind Tri Ta's candidacy in the November general election.
Democrat Jimmy Pham is an immigration attorney born in the United States to Vietnamese parents. He attended the University of California, Irvine and earned his law degree locally.
He began his public service experience as the appointed Chair of the City of Westminster Traffic Commission and then as a candidate for the City of Westminster City Council in 2022.
In the March 5 primary , both Tri Ta and Jimmy Pham ran and moved on to the November national election, the incumbent with 46,752 votes (59%) and the Democrat with 31,812 (41%).
For his positions and his work, she has received the support of the leader of the Latino community, Dolores Huerta.
He is also supported by major national and California unions, as well as environmental and reproductive rights organizations.
Additionally, a long list of elected officials including state Attorney General Rob Bonta, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and Congressman Lou Correa who represents the area support Pham.
As an activist, he focused on the living conditions of the residents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) migrant detention centers. In this context, her positions regarding the Latino community show a similarity of interests.
In his legal work, he successfully worked for thousands of Central American families seeking work permits, applying for asylum, renewing DACA status, and avoiding deportation. He also supports sanctuary cities and shares the need to protect immigrants, saying:
“We must vehemently protect sanctuary cities and our sanctuary state policy. In 2018, SB 54 extended local sanctuary city protections for immigrants living in California,” she said.
These positions are derived from their pro-working class ideology, focused on workers' rights, unionization and collective bargaining, as well as public education and the regulation of charter schools.
He also places importance on the campaign for affordable housing for low-income people, and advocates for expanded health care and simplified immigration processes.
He has received the endorsement of Planned Parenthood and is committed to fighting in Sacramento for the expansion of women's reproductive rights and for environmental justice.
Tri Ta, meanwhile, is on the far right side of the Republican Party in a CalMatters chart . He supports former President Trump, who he said, according to AsAm News, “offers common-sense solutions while Kamala Harris makes unrealistic promises.” Tri Ta is one of two California assemblymen to endorse Trump. The other is Bill Essayli of District 63.
Jimmy Pham says of immigration: “The U.S. immigration system is broken. I see this firsthand every day as an immigration attorney. I have fought to streamline our immigration and asylum processes to reduce wait times for approval.”
Given his principles and legislative plans, and the range of support he has, La Opinión considers Jimmy Pham to be the best candidate for the position and calls on its audience in District 70 to vote for him on November 5.
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