Your guide to the California Congressional District 45 race: Tran vs. Vo

Incumbent Derek Tran is attempting to win the district that centers around Little Saigon for a second consecutive time.

Tran was a political newcomer when he captured the seat by a little more than 600 votes in 2024 against Michelle Steel, a two-time incumbent Republican. He’ll face off against Republican Chuong Vo, a recently retired Torrance police officer.

Vo emerged from a crowded field of Republican candidates, winning a five-person race in June to advance to the general election.

About 78% percent of the district lies within Orange County and includes the cities of Garden Grove, Westminster, Buena Park, Fountain Valley and Fullerton. A smaller portion includes parts of Los Angeles County cities Cerritos and Norwalk.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as moving from “lean Democratic” to “likely Democratic” with a three-percentage-point deficit for Republicans.

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Tran, 45, is an attorney and U.S. Army veteran who served in the U.S. Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom. He runs a pharmacy with his wife, Michelle. He is the son of refugees who fled communist Vietnam and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, graduating from Rosemead High School.

Tran’s first term included small victories for his constituents, including helping trim processing time in the social security system for small businesses and individuals and small business loan payouts totaling $5 million this year, his office reported. He also delivered $1 million to the city of Cypress for flood prevention infrastructure.

He also has championed bills, such as the WARRIOR Act, which codifies a woman’s ability to serve in combat in the Armed Forces. He and Republican Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.) also teamed to author the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Foreign Interference Safeguard Act, which aims to protect such entities against hacking and cyberwarfare.

Tran is endorsed by the unions for Orange and Los Angeles counties’ deputy sheriffs, the International Assn. of Fire Fighters, the California Federation of Labor Unions and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Vo, who fled Vietnam as a child, served as the mayor of Cerritos while a member of the city council from 2020 to 2025. Vo, 50, recently retired after working as an officer for the Torrance Police Department since 1999.

On the city council, Vo touted some of Cerritos’ success, including the creation of the city’s annual Moon Festival, the extension of a Kia automotive dealership extension until 2045 and the redesign of the city’s website.

He differentiates himself from Tran by saying he is “not a career politician promising to fix D.C. from the inside.”

“I’ve spent my life doing the work on the ground and serving our community,” he said.

Vo is endorsed by the California Republican Party, Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs, Orange County Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Don Wagner and a slew of city mayors from Fountain Valley to Garden Grove and Norwalk.

Fundraising data will be updated regularly until the election.

Tran said the keys to lowering inflation and costs include ending the war in Iran and rolling back tariffs “that have gotten us into trade wars with our allies and increased prices for Americans.” He said as much in a letter to President Trump as a member of the Democratic Lowering Costs Caucus.

“I hear from so many of my constituents how they’re struggling to pay off their credit card debts, pay their bills, pay rent or their mortgages and put food on the table for their families,” Tran said. “With Washington Republicans at the wheel, the rising costs of gas, groceries and rent is becoming insurmountable for too many Southern California families.”

Tran said “small businesses are the backbone of our economy” and he would expand access to capital, contracts and business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Vo said his decades on the front line in law enforcement taught him “what hard working families actually deal with.” He also touted his efforts in helping keep a budget balanced as Cerritos’ mayor and a city council member.

“That is something Washington, D.C., politicians haven’t done effectively in my entire adult life,” Vo said.

He also said watching his parents rebuild after fleeing communist Vietnam taught him the value of stretching a dollar.

As for business growth, Vo wants to cut regulatory and tax burdens “that strangle the small businesses that are the backbone of this district.”

Tran said Republicans “are obsessed” with passing the SAVE Act, whose authors say the bill is intended to ensure “election integrity and preventing noncitizen voting,” according to vote.org. However, noncitizen voting has been a federal crime for decades.

Tran said passing the act would severely limit the ability of U.S. citizens to vote, especially women whose maiden names may differ from married names on government paperwork.

“I’m deeply concerned by the president’s misinformed rhetoric about the safety and security of our elections, and discussions of stationing the military or ICE at polling places this November,” Tran said. “As the son of refugees who fled a communist regime, I know that democracy and elections are something we cannot take for granted — it is a freedom worth protecting.”

Vo supports requiring proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to vote.

“That’s just common sense and most Americans agree with me,” Vo said.

He said his election integrity focus is advocating for openness, particularly on the states’ role in running their own elections.

“It’s clear that voters trust a process more when it’s transparent and well run at the local level, not imposed unilaterally,” Vo said. “Secure elections and states doing their job well aren’t in conflict.”

Tran labeled the conflict in Iran as “Trump’s war of choice” and called for its immediate end, which would save American lives and lower costs for families.

The veteran and son of refugees noted that “a defined mission, measurable objectives and an exit strategy has been entirely unclear in our actions in Iran thus far by this administration.”

He added that the American public must be part of the debate on the war, and Congress should exercise constitutional responsibility.

Vo countered that “preventing Iran and other rogue nations from getting a nuclear weapon is a goal” he supports.

“That said, six months in, families in this district are paying nearly a dollar more per gallon at the pump, and that’s a real cost showing up in every driveway,” Vo said. “In Congress, I would not support open-ended conflict and forever wars and I’d fight for relief for families getting squeezed at the pump.”

Vo said that while he supports the mission, he also can demand a clear strategy and endpoint.