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Bao Nguyen | |
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17th Mayor of Garden Grove, California | |
In office December 9, 2014 – December 13, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Bruce Broadwater |
Succeeded by | Steven R. Jones |
Trustee of Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education | |
In office July 19, 2011 – December 2, 2014 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1980 (age 43–44) Thailand |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater |
University of California, Irvine Naropa University |
Occupation | Community organizer, educator, politician |
Bao Nguyen (born 1980) is an American Democratic politician from Orange County, California, and a former mayor of Garden Grove, California. [1] He also previously served as a trustee on the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education.
Nguyen was born in a United Nations refugee camp in Thailand to parents escaping Vietnam, and arrived in the United States when he was 3 months old. [2] He attended school within the Garden Grove Unified School District. He attended Garden Grove High School, and graduated from Pacifica High School. [3]
Nguyen graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor's degree in political science. As an undergraduate, he interned for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Rockville, Maryland. [1] [4] Nguyen also earned a master's degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies from Naropa University. [1]
Nguyen was appointed to the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education in 2011, [5] after a close race in 2010. He was elected as a trustee in 2012, and served a term as vice president. As a board member, he fought against the exclusion of LGBT Vietnamese from the annual Little Saigon Tết Parade. [6] [7] He resigned from the board of trustees in 2014 due to becoming mayor. [8] [9]
Nguyen defeated incumbent Bruce Broadwater by 15 votes in the 2014 election to become mayor of Garden Grove. He also became the first Vietnamese-American mayor of the city. [10] As mayor, he sought to improve government transparency and accountability, and to engage voters by making city finance records available online. [11] [12] [13] Nguyen was appointed by the state governor to the Orange County Fair and Event Center Board of Directors. [1] [14] He resigned the position in 2015. [14]
The president of the Garden Grove Police Association, a political opponent of Nguyen, "surreptitiously recorded a conversation" in June 2015 with Nguyen, then newly elected mayor. [15] According to the OC Weekly, "during the discussion, Nguyen called [Garden Grove] City Councilman Phat Bui 'a fucking dick,' a reference to efforts by Bui's supporters to label Nguyen a communist sympathizer for not vehemently protesting Riverside's sister-city relationship with Can Tho, Vietnam". Nguyen stated the insinuation was inaccurate and that he simply "didn't think one city council should tell another what to do". [15]
In the 2016 elections Nguyen ran for congress in California's 46th district, long held by Loretta Sanchez, with former California State Senate member Lou Correa as his opponent. [16] [17] In the June primary Nguyen came in second with 14.6% of the vote after Correa received 43.7%. [18] [19] In the November Nguyen lost to Correa after receiving just under 30% of the vote in the general election. [20]
Nguyen's term as Garden Grove mayor ended in December 2016, and he was succeeded by council member/Mayor Pro Tem, Steve Jones. [21] [22]
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help
improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page. (
Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Bao Nguyen | |
---|---|
![]() | |
17th Mayor of Garden Grove, California | |
In office December 9, 2014 – December 13, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Bruce Broadwater |
Succeeded by | Steven R. Jones |
Trustee of Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education | |
In office July 19, 2011 – December 2, 2014 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1980 (age 43–44) Thailand |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater |
University of California, Irvine Naropa University |
Occupation | Community organizer, educator, politician |
Bao Nguyen (born 1980) is an American Democratic politician from Orange County, California, and a former mayor of Garden Grove, California. [1] He also previously served as a trustee on the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education.
Nguyen was born in a United Nations refugee camp in Thailand to parents escaping Vietnam, and arrived in the United States when he was 3 months old. [2] He attended school within the Garden Grove Unified School District. He attended Garden Grove High School, and graduated from Pacifica High School. [3]
Nguyen graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor's degree in political science. As an undergraduate, he interned for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Rockville, Maryland. [1] [4] Nguyen also earned a master's degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies from Naropa University. [1]
Nguyen was appointed to the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education in 2011, [5] after a close race in 2010. He was elected as a trustee in 2012, and served a term as vice president. As a board member, he fought against the exclusion of LGBT Vietnamese from the annual Little Saigon Tết Parade. [6] [7] He resigned from the board of trustees in 2014 due to becoming mayor. [8] [9]
Nguyen defeated incumbent Bruce Broadwater by 15 votes in the 2014 election to become mayor of Garden Grove. He also became the first Vietnamese-American mayor of the city. [10] As mayor, he sought to improve government transparency and accountability, and to engage voters by making city finance records available online. [11] [12] [13] Nguyen was appointed by the state governor to the Orange County Fair and Event Center Board of Directors. [1] [14] He resigned the position in 2015. [14]
The president of the Garden Grove Police Association, a political opponent of Nguyen, "surreptitiously recorded a conversation" in June 2015 with Nguyen, then newly elected mayor. [15] According to the OC Weekly, "during the discussion, Nguyen called [Garden Grove] City Councilman Phat Bui 'a fucking dick,' a reference to efforts by Bui's supporters to label Nguyen a communist sympathizer for not vehemently protesting Riverside's sister-city relationship with Can Tho, Vietnam". Nguyen stated the insinuation was inaccurate and that he simply "didn't think one city council should tell another what to do". [15]
In the 2016 elections Nguyen ran for congress in California's 46th district, long held by Loretta Sanchez, with former California State Senate member Lou Correa as his opponent. [16] [17] In the June primary Nguyen came in second with 14.6% of the vote after Correa received 43.7%. [18] [19] In the November Nguyen lost to Correa after receiving just under 30% of the vote in the general election. [20]
Nguyen's term as Garden Grove mayor ended in December 2016, and he was succeeded by council member/Mayor Pro Tem, Steve Jones. [21] [22]