Van Tran

Van Tran
California State Assembly District 68
Former member
Term in office began 2004
Term in office ended 2010
Political party	Republican
Profession	Attorney

Van Tran was a Republican member of the California State Assembly, representing the 68th District from 2004 to 2010. He was the Assistant Minority Leader.

Van Tran is an attorney with a private practice. He has previously interned for US Representative Robert Dornan, and California State Senator Ed Royce.

Van Tran is a member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, Asian-Pacific Islander Joint Caucus, and Vice Chair of the Orange County Chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.

Tran and Texas State Representative Hubert Vo were the highest-ranking Vietnamese American elected officials in U.S. history until Anh Cao was elected to the United States House of Representatives in December 2008. Tran took office one month before Vo did, making him the first Vietnamese American to serve in a state legislature.

Tran emigrated to the United States in 1975, when he and his family were evacuated from Saigon by the U.S. Army one week before the city fell to the North Vietnamese. The family originally settled in Michigan before relocating to Orange County when Tran was in high school.

Tran attended the University of California, Irvine, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Political Science. He received his Masters in Public Administration and Juris Doctorate degrees from Hamline University in St. Paul. Minn.

Issue positions

Political Courage test

Tran did not provide answers to the California State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test. The test provides voters with how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected.

Legislative scorecard

Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score. ,

On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Tran ranked as a 20.

Committee assignments

• Banking and Finance Committee, California General Assembly
• Governmental Organization Committee, California General Assembly
• Judiciary Committee, California General Assembly (Vice Chair)

Sponsored legislation

Van Tran's sponsored legislation includes:

• AB 285 - Corporations: electronic transmissions
• AB 631 - Public assistance: home visits
• AB 1392 - Vandalism: Graffiti and Gang Technology Fund

For details and a full listing of sponsored bills, see the House site.

Elections

2010

Tran was ineligible to run for re-election in 2010 due to the term limits of the California State Assembly.

2008

In 2008 Tran was re-elected to the California State Assembly District 68. Tran (R) finished with 72,034 votes while his opponent Kenneth Arnold (D) finished with 61,239 votes.

California State Assembly District 68
Candidates		Votes
Van Tran (R)		72,034
Kenneth Arnold (D)		61,239

Campaign donors

2008

Below are Tran's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2008 election:

Contributor	2008 total
CA Medical Assoc	$12,200
Philip Morris	$7,200
Irvine Co	$7,200
Prime Health Care Anaheim	$7,200
Sempra Energy	$7,200

External links

Suggest a link

• Legislative profile of Van Tran on Project Vote Smart
• Biographical profile of Van Tran on Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004
• Van Tran on Facebook

References

Political offices
Preceded by -	California State Assembly District 68 2004–2010	Succeeded by Allan R. Mansoor