Van Tran for Congress

House Republican Recruitment Shines

By Chris Cillizza | July 8, 2009
The Washington Post

Six months into a world where political Washington is totally controlled by Democrats, recruitment efforts for House Republicans are showing promise — the first evidence, party strategists argue, that the hostile environment toward the GOP over the last few years is turning around.

In the last few days, former Rep. Steve Pearce (R) announced he would seek to regain his New Mexico seat in 2010, while state Sen. Steve Stivers (R), who lost in 2008 by just 2,312 votes to Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D), said he would make a rematch next fall.
Pearce and Stivers join a handful of other quality GOP House candidates including Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby in Alabama’s 2nd district, state Rep. Cory Gardner in Colorado’s 4th, Assemblyman Van Tran in California’s 47th and former Rep. Steve Chabot in Ohio’s 1st.

“Candidate recruitment is often a leading political indicator,” said Ed Brookover, a longtime operative at the National Republican Congressional Committee and now a GOP media consultant. “Challenger candidates are often the first to feel a change in the political winds.”

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY VISIT:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/070809morning-fix-house-republ.html?hpid=news-col-blog

Community Commentary: Let’s Unite For Our Safety

By VAN TRAN
Friday, June 19, 2009

Last year Sacramento passed the largest one-time tax increase in the history of state government, an increase of more than $12 billion, yet more people are out of work and the budget problem is even worse.

To compound matters, under a dangerous proposal by the governor to create a new category of parole called “summary parole,” our safety could be at risk. Felons convicted of serious crimes would no longer be supervised by law enforcement while they are out on parole. Parolees who served time for such crimes as attacking public safety officers while on duty, recruiting gang members, committing auto theft or identity thieves would go free. We would have no idea where they are or if they are living up to the conditions of their parole, such as maintaining a job and staying off drugs.

As a husband and father, I am troubled that those convicted of certain types of sex offenses and stalking and those guilty of felony statutory rape will be allowed to slip through the cracks. Despite what some state bureaucrats may say, many felons pose a great risk to our community.

In addition, some Sacramento politicians propose releasing thousands of dangerous felons — including identity thieves and embezzlers — onto California streets in the name of necessary budget cuts.

We must keep in mind that our top priority is to keep our communities safe and free of any danger. It’s time for the Legislature to work across party lines to find more realistic ways to trim the budget. By cutting wasteful spending and getting our budget priorities straight, we can find significant savings without threatening public safety

http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2009/06/22/opinion/dpt-commentary062009.txt

May 7, 2009 Roll Call Article By Josh Kurtz

…Republicans just got good recruiting news of their own on Wednesday, when state Assemblyman Van Tran (R) created an exploratory committee for a possible bid against Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) in an Orange County district that the GOP believes is becoming increasingly competitive.

“If I run for Congress, my first priority will be passing meaningful economic reforms to create more jobs and get Californians working,” the Saigon-born Tran said in a statement.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/54_127/politics/34690-1.html

Assemblyman Van Tran Exploring Run for Congress against Loretta Sanchez

Race would be most competitive congressional in California-Independent DC newspaper Politico asks “Is Van Tran the GOP’s future?”

GARDEN GROVE, CA– Today, Assemblyman Van Tran opened a Congressional Campaign Committee to explore a run for Congress against Loretta Sanchez.

“I’m deeply concerned about our economy. California’s unemployment is up 33% in the past five months, but we’re not seeing solutions in Washington,” Assemblyman Tran stated. “If I run for Congress, my first priority will be passing meaningful economic reforms to create more jobs and get Californians working.”

Tran has spent most of his time in the Assembly promoting economic policies that create jobs. He has authored legislation to expand Enterprise Zones and successfully passed legislation to implement a 40-hour work week, an important measure to make it easier to create jobs in California.
Loretta Sanchez represents Congressional District 47, which has been won by Republicans repeatedly this decade. President Bush carried it in 2004 and Governor Schwarzenegger carried it in 2006 by over 13%. Additionally, this district has a large number of Vietnamese residents, which benefits the Saigon-born Tran.

National Republicans believe this is a winnable district. In fact, this April the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) paid for telephone messages challenging Congresswoman Sanchez’s support for reckless spending and a massive budget deficit. On April 13, renowned political analyst Stuart Rothenberg reported in the DC publication Roll Callthat “GOP insiders” cited a possible Tran candidacy as a race that would instantly bolster Republican campaign efforts.

“I’ve been working on recruitment, and this is one of the top people I’ve gone after since the very beginning,” Congressman McCarthy told Politico. “Tran transcends Republican politics, and he will be able to reach out to independents and moderate Democrats.”

Tran has been a fixture in Orange County for over a decade. He was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2004. His district is 100% within Orange County and he represents the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Newport Beach, Stanton and Westminster. Prior to serving in the Assembly, Tran was managing partner of his own law practice. He served on the Garden Grove Planning Commission, and served as Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem of Garden Grove, where he won the most votes in the history of a city’s council election.

Republicans on the Hunt for Messengers as Party Moves to Reconnect With Voters

FOXNews.com
Tuesday, May 05, 2009

The GOP, which launched a new campaign over the weekend to market Republican ideas to voters, is placing a high priority on recruitment — part of its attempt to stop the bleeding of Republican seats in Washington and local governments across the country.

As Republicans try to hit the right message in a bid to re-engage the American public, they’re also on the hunt for the right messengers.

The GOP, which launched a new campaign over the weekend to market Republican ideas to voters, is placing a high priority on recruitment — part of its attempt to stop the bleeding of Republican seats in Washington, D.C, and local governments across the country.

“We’re interested in quality,” said Frank Donatelli, chairman of Republican recruiter GOPAC.

The recruitment push is unavoidably part of the GOP quest for identity and leadership. President Obama, an untraditional candidate from an untraditional background, helped Democrats define themselves and win over followers during the end of the Bush years. Now Republicans are looking in out-of-the-ordinary places for candidates who can enthuse Americans and pick up seats in their name.

With the build-up of recruits underway, party leaders are hopeful and holding up their efforts scouting politicians like Van Tran, a California assemblyman and the first Vietnamese-American elected to a state legislature.

Republicans want him to unseat Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in Congress next year.

On the local level, New Hampshire state Rep. Marilinda Garcia, who won a special election for the seat last month, also has been getting some attention. The musician and court-appointed advocate for abused children is 26 years old, a woman and Latina, out-of-the-ordinary traits for a Republican candidate.

Donatelli, who through GOPAC focuses on finding Republicans to run in state and local races, said his group is combing the field for “non-traditional” candidates.

That covers members of any demographic group that doesn’t traditionally vote Republican in large numbers — Hispanics, blacks, union members, young people and women, as well as other minorities. By recruiting them, the party hopes to appeal to a broader base.

“We want to make a special effort, I think, to reach out and bring together a broader spectrum of candidates that might, over time, grow the Republican base,” Donatelli said.

He said the party, on the local level, is also looking for well-known community leaders, including business men and women, who are skilled speakers and know how to talk specifics when addressing GOP priorities.

“Sometimes we talk in generalities, and I think voters are a lot more discerning today,” he said.

Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the same criteria apply in the search for U.S. House and Senate candidates. He said community leaders, not necessarily office-holders, and people from “non-traditional” backgrounds are in high demand.

He provided a list of recent GOP recruits for congressional races that showed promise. The list included Tran in California. It also included Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou and Manchester, N.H., Mayor Frank Guinta. All would be challenging Democrats for Congress in their respective states.

“It’s still early in the cycle, but we’re off to a solid start in recruiting community leaders who have their own brand and can expand the playing field in seats currently held by Democrats,” Lindsay said in an e-mail…

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY VISIT:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/04/pub-republicans-hunt-messengers-party-moves-reconnect-voters/

Politico: Is Van Tran the GOP’s future?

By JOSH KRAUSHAAR | 4/28/09

On the heels of an election marked by a dismal performance among Asian voters, top Republicans are aggressively recruiting California Assemblyman Van Tran, a Vietnamese-American, to challenge Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) next year.

If elected, Tran would be the second Vietnamese-American in Congress, after Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.), who won his seat in a 2008 election.

Tran has already been feted at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s March fundraising dinner as a guest of the committee’s recruitment chairman, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and he was encouraged to run by House Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor. He also made a trip to Washington after last November’s election to meet with officials from the NRCC.

Even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has assisted in the recruitment process, meeting with Tran and offering support for any potential candidacy. Tran was an outspoken backer of McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and helped him carry Orange County over Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary.

According to the National Asian American Survey, in the general election, McCain won the Vietnamese vote by a wide margin in 2008 — the only Asian group he carried.

“I’ve been working on recruitment, and this is one of the top people I’ve gone after since the very beginning,” said McCarthy, who served in the state Assembly with Tran. “Tran transcends Republican politics, and he will be able to reach out to independents and moderate Democrats.”

Tran’s appeal to the party is rooted in the ethnic composition of Sanchez’s district. It is home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans in the entire nation — about 15 percent of registered voters in California’s 47th Congressional District are Vietnamese.

And while the number of Hispanic voters in the district is more than twice that — pegged at 34 percent by the state Board of Elections — their turnout rate has been traditionally lower than the Vietnamese community. Republicans believe Vietnamese voters would rally behind Tran if he ran, making that turnout disparity even greater.

Indeed, Tran first won election to the state Assembly in 2004, in large part because of a massive registration drive aimed at the local Vietnamese community.

“Without question, he would be the most formidable candidate to rise up and challenge Loretta,” said Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh.

“You can’t beat her in central Orange County without a very effective and organized machine that turns out the right votes. And Van has that capacity.”

Sanchez herself is a testament to the district’s demographic evolution: She defeated former GOP Rep. Bob Dornan in 1996 by taking advantage of the growing influx of Hispanic voters into the Orange County-­based district. Republicans believe that a mobilized Vietnamese community could pose a similar threat to Sanchez.

Republicans point to a 2007 Board of Supervisors race within district boundaries as evidence of how the Vietnamese community could be galvanized if Tran were on the ballot. In that winner-take-all contest, two of four leading candidates were Vietnamese. While conventional wisdom expected the Vietnamese vote to splinter four ways — allowing the white or Latino candidate to win — the two Vietnamese candidates finished in first and second place.

That result was possible because about 40 percent of the ballots in that particular race were cast by Vietnamese voters — a higher percentage than the actual percentage of registered Vietnamese voters …

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY VISIT: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21777_Page2.html

The Rothenberg Political Report - April 16, 2009

Stuart Rothenberg
Roll Call Newspaper
April 16, 2009

…Republicans are keeping their eyes on Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Loretta Sanchez (Calif.), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.), Charlie Melancon (La.) and a handful of Democratic Representatives from the Philadelphia suburbs, who might look at the Senate race with renewed interest now that Sen. Arlen Specter (R) has drawn a serious primary challenger.

Republican operatives are making every effort to recruit strong challengers to these Democratic incumbents, hoping to push some of them toward other contests.

GOP insiders cite their efforts to encourage California Assemblyman Van Tran to challenge Sanchez and Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken into a race against DeFazio as evidence that they are trying to broaden the playing field and that they have adopted a new strategy…

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY VISIT:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/16/_have_house_gop_retirement_woes_run_their_course_48909.html

1st Vietnamese Lawmaker in California to Run for House

By: The Associated Press | 8 May 2009

1st Vietnamese-American lawmaker in California to challenge Hispanic incumbent for US House seat. The first Vietnamese-American elected to California’s Legislature says he plans to challenge one of the country’s leading Hispanic politicians for her spot in Congress.

State assemblyman Van Tran says he filed paperwork Wednesday to create a committee so he can run against Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez in 2010. The third-term Republican from Costa Mesa says the struggling economy makes Sanchez’s 47th Congressional District ripe for change. He says it’s time “to get the issues out and to contrast diverse positions.” Sanchez says she welcomes “a spirited debate.” She was re-elected last year with more than 60 percent of the vote.The district in Orange County has large Latino and Vietnamese-American constituencies.

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