Tran Is First and Doesn’t Forget It for a Second

Running late, Van Tran hustled out of his office, quickly turned the corner and passed up a row of office doors before realizing he was headed the wrong way.

Red floor? Wrong chamber.

The red, he reminded himself, belonged to senators. Tran, the new Assembly member from Garden Grove, made his way around the Capitol until he found the green tiles, which would lead to the Assembly chamber.

But familiarizing himself with his new surroundings is the least of his worries. As a Republican, he is a minority among Asian representatives. And as the first Vietnamese American legislator in the state, he knows he is forging a path.

“I have to work doubly hard,” said Tran, who represents a district with the largest Vietnamese population in the United States. “I realize and fully appreciate my unique sense of responsibility that being the first of anything carries extra responsibility and burdens, but it is also an honor.”

To help him navigate this unfamiliar territory, he has sought out the veteran politicians, community leaders and mentors he has known since his days on the Garden Grove City Council, where he was a touchstone for the community.

The demand for his time will be extraordinary and Tran will work harder because his district has different needs, some said.

“They call the office constantly because government is a mystery to them and they don’t have anyone to turn to,” said Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), who also has a predominately Asian district. “They don’t speak English. They’re so hungry for people who speak the same language.”

Tran has even stepped into his first controversy, albeit a small one. Tran, Assemblywoman Shirley Horton (R-Chula Vista), whose mother is Japanese, and Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi (R-Lodi) have asked to become members of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, a move that the Democratic membership is mulling over.

Since he arrived 10 weeks ago, most of Tran’s days have begun at 8 a.m. with coffee and a stack of papers from Orange County, Los Angeles and Sacramento. He looks for stories affecting his district and Vietnamese Americans.

Then the 40-year-old rushes through hallways looking for the green tiles that will lead him to the Assembly session. While others mingle, Tran, seated in the front, is the only member to say “here” during roll call.

On a recent day, he listened to Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge) criticize the slow, grueling budget process. Tran admits he can’t speak with authority quite yet. He has chosen to speak on the floor only twice, adjourning a meeting in memory of his brother, Henry Tran, who died this month from cancer, and in support of a resolution to honor Korean Americans for their contributions in America.

“I have to wait my turn to speak because first impressions are important and I don’t want to say anything controversial or out of line,” he said.

During back-to-back meetings on a recent afternoon, he introduced himself as a former aide to then-state Sen. Ed Royce “way back when,” to reassure them he was not new to this political landscape.

Still, Sacramento has been a crash course. Named to the Committee on Business and Professions, he had to learn what it did. Ditto the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (a subject he admitted wasn’t his strongest). He was also appointed this week as an alternate to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which is investigating Secretary of State Kevin Shelley for alleged misuse of election funds.

“I’m not sure how I got selected,” he told Assemblyman Ira Ruskin (D-San Mateo), chairman of the toxic materials committee. “But I’m a quick study.”

In other meetings, two lobbyists from Orange County wanted to work with Tran to promote a drug education program. A Republican consultant offered to help him analyze bills. And a Vietnamese language newspaper reporter wanted to know his stance on the issues relating to the Vietnamese American community, including a recent flap between Cal-Optima, which administers Medi-Cal payments in Orange County, and Little Saigon pharmacists over releasing patient information.

“We’re very interested in him because he reflects his community politically,” said Thien-Giao Pham, 34, of Westminster, a reporter for Nguoi Viet Daily News, the largest Vietnamese publication in the United States. “His swearing-in was just the beginning. The real test is to see what he can do and what direction he will take us in.”

Aside from learning his way around the building, his first month at the Capitol is all about relationship building, he said.

“My job is to build relationships so our bills survive, so I need the bills ahead of time so I can carry water on it,” he said during a recent staff meeting. “We’ll use saliva power.”

Tran defeated Al Snook, a businessman and perennial candidate, 61% to 39% in November, replacing Ken Maddox, who was termed out.

The 68th district is made up of about 475,000 residents in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Newport Beach, Stanton, and Westminster.

Vietnamese American constituents see him as a native son and have high -- and at times, unrealistic -- expectations of him. Last week, he had his staff call pharmacies and local Vietnamese American constituents to stop flooding his fax machines with letters seeking a resolution to the Cal-Optima controversy.

In hopes of resolving the dispute quickly, he has worked with Orange County Supervisor Lou Correa -- a Democrat -- and state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove), keeping a campaign promise that he would not allow partisanship to affect his district.

“Constituents, whether they are white, blue or green, have shared issues,” Tran said. “Essentially being an Assembly representative, you’re also a problem solver.”

He has befriended Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), whom he sees as a mentor, and has sought advice from others.

“I think by virtue of being the first Vietnamese American, coupled with his abilities, it will place him in a position to be great for the Republican caucus,” said Maddox, who lives in Dana Point and runs a consulting business. “He’s going to be a powerhouse. He’s not an empty suit.”

His journey to Sacramento began in Saigon, where his father was a professor and his mother a dentist. The second-oldest of five children, he was 10 when the family fled the communist country. They settled in Orange County, where he graduated from UCI with a political science degree.

Tran worked as a staff aide to former Rep. Robert K. Dornan and then state Sen. Ed Royce, who is now a congressman, in the 1980s.

He moved to Minnesota, where he graduated with a master’s degree in public administration and a law degree from Hamline University School of Law.

He returned to Orange County, where he opened a law firm in Westminster and became well-respected and well-known for his volunteerism.

Tran founded the Vietnamese American Voters Coalition, which educated voters on issues affecting their community. He helped organize fundraisers and walkathons for flood victims in Vietnam.

His reputation expanded after he worked with police to end 53 days of protests by 15,000 demonstrators in a Little Saigon shopping strip when a merchant displayed a picture of a communist leader and the communist flag.

As a candidate for the Garden Grove City Council in 2000, he received the most votes, and later wrote a resolution prohibiting Vietnam officials from visiting the city.

In November, many Vietnamese American supporters cast their votes for Tran, hoping he’d promote a communist-free Vietnam through government channels. He won the election, making history as the state’s highest ranking Vietnamese American.

The new year began with his move to Sacramento and his calendar has been booked since with more than 150 speaking engagements, meetings and receptions.

“There’s a lot of wining and dining here,” said Tran.

Unlike some of his colleagues’ sparsely decorated offices, Tran’s oak walls are adorned with plaques -- the small steps that paved his path to the Capitol. Among them, OC Weekly’s Hottest 25 in 2004, with his name highlighted in red, and appreciation plaques from Rock N Vote, Sunny Hills Senior Center, the Korean American Foundation and Orange County One-Stop Center.

At day’s end, he returns phone calls and e-mails. Then proudly, Tran, a mild-mannered, articulate cigar aficionado, glances out his window where he gets a peek of the governor puffing a cigar in the courtyard tent below.

“That guy shares the same history as I do as a former immigrant who had literally the shirt on his back,” Tran said. “And look where he is. It’s interesting that we’re working in the same building. It speaks volumes about freedom, opportunity and hard work.”