Revision 180741528 of "Tan D. Nguyen" on enwiki

'''Tan Duc Nguyen''' (born [[1973]]) is a two-time candidate for the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] in [[California]].  In 2004, he sought the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nomination to run against incumbent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Dana Rohrabacher]] in [[California's 46th congressional district]].  In 2006, he ran as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] against incumbent [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Loretta Sanchez]] in [[California's 47th congressional district]].

==Biography==
Nguyen was born '''Nguyễn Đức Tân'''<ref name="VOA">{{cite news|title=Giới chức bang California điều tra về lá thư dọa tống giam di dân đi bầu cử|url=http://www.voanews.com/vietnamese/2006-10-20-voa5.cfm|work=[[Voice of America]]|publisher=[[Broadcasting Board of Governors]]|date=[[2006-10-20]]|accessdate=2006-10-22|language=Vietnamese}}</ref> in [[Da Nang]], [[South Vietnam]], in 1973.  In [[1981]], six years after the [[Fall of Saigon]], he and his family became [[boat people]].  They settled in California, where Nguyen attended the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].  He later was graduated from the [[University of Minnesota]] with a baccalaureate and emphases on business-economics, biochemistry and Asian studies.  Nguyen married Hanh Lam and settled in southern California, working for [[American Express]].

==2004 Congressional campaign as a Democrat==
In [[2004]], Nguyen lost the [[California's 46th congressional district|46<sup>th</sup> district]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] primary to [[Jim Brandt]],<ref>[http://primary2004.ss.ca.gov/Returns/usrep/4600.htm Official 2004 primary election results] from the [[Secretary of State of California]]</ref> who lost to incumbent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Dana Rohrabacher]] by a 30% margin.<ref>[http://vote2004.ss.ca.gov/Returns/usrep/4600.htm Official 2004 general election results] from the [[Secretary of State of California]]</ref>

==2006 Congressional campaign as a Republican==

Nguyen won the Republican Party's endorsement to run for the 47th Congressional District of California in the [[June 6]], [[2006]] primary election with 55.4% of the votes in a three-way race<ref>[http://primary2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/usrep/4700.htm Official 2006 primary election results] from the [[Secretary of State of California]]</ref>.  He lost to incumbent [[Loretta Sanchez]] in the November election, receiving 37.6% of the votes.<ref>[http://vote2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/usrep/4700.htm Official 2006 election results] from the [[Secretary of State of California]]</ref>

===Campaign mailing controversy===

Nguyen's campaign was linked to a widely criticized Spanish-language mailing allegedly warning immigrants not to vote, threatening them with prison or deportation.<ref>[http://www.theliberaloc.com/pdf/theletter.pdf Spanish-language mailing linked to Tan Nguyen campaign]</ref> As translated in the press at the time, it read in part:

:You are being sent this letter because you were recently registered to vote. If you are a citizen of the United States, we ask that you participate in the democratic process of voting. You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in imprisonment, and you will be deported for voting without having the right to do so.<ref>{{cite news|first=Norberto, Jr |last=Santana |url=http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1326599.php |title=Nguyen's campaign office raided |publisher=[[The Orange County Register]] |date=[[October 21]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2006-10-23}}</ref>

The letter was issued on what appeared to be the letterhead of the [[California Coalition for Immigration Reform]], however its head denied any involvement.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-scare17oct17,1,5513175.story?coll=la-headlines-politics&ctrack=1&cset=true|title=State Investigating Intimidating Letter Sent to O.C. Latinos|publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Delson|first=Jennifer|date=[[October 17]] [[2006]]|accessdate=2006-10-26}}</ref>  Nguyen denied any personal involvement in the incident, and stated that an employee in his office who might have been responsible had since been fired.<ref name="AP">{{cite news|first=Peter  |last=Prengaman |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/19/national/a140727D82.DTL&type=politics |title=OC GOP urges candidate whose campaign sent letter to withdraw |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=[[October 19]] [[2006]] |accessdate=2006-10-23}}</ref>  [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] Chairman [[Scott Baugh]], on the other hand, stated that the party executive committee voted [[unanimously]] to recommend that Nguyen withdraw from the election.  "I learned information that allows me to draw the conclusion that not only was Mr. Nguyen's campaign involved in this, but that Mr. Nguyen was personally involved in expediting the mailer," he stated. On Friday, [[October 20]], California [[Department of Justice]] agents raided Nguyen's campaign headquarters in [[Garden Grove, California|Garden Grove]] and his home in [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]], "hauling off computers and bags of evidence."<ref>{{cite news|first=Jennifer; Goffard, Christopher and Tran, Mai |last=Delson |url=http://www.latimes.com/la-me-letter21oct21,0,7524703.story?track=mostviewed-homepage |title=Raids Widen 'Immigrant' Letter Probe |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=[[October 21]] 
[[2006]] |accessdate=2006-10-23}}</ref>

On May 16, 2007, the Department of Justice investigation determined that there was no evidence that Nguyen's campaign had an intent to intimidate those legally entitled to vote. The investigation had found that the original draft of the letter (in English) had warned illegals and those with green cards against voting, but elsewhere had encouraged those with U.S. citizenship to vote.  The phrase "those with green cards" had then been translated into "emigrado," for the Spanish-language letter that was mailed; this had later been translated back into English as "immigrant" when the letter was brought to light in the media.  Senior Assistant Attorney General David Schons stated that the investigation found that Nguyen did in fact know about the letter before it was mailed, in contradiction to Nguyen's repeated assertions that he was not aware of it.  Nguyen, who continued to deny involvement with the letter, in other respects stated satisfaction with the investigation results, and considered himself "exonerated".<ref>[http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/gardengrove/article_1697421.php Tan Nguyen cleared by State Attorney General] from the [[OC Register]]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Caging list]]
*[[Voter turnout]]

==References ==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

== External links ==
*[http://65.45.193.26:8026/cms/acct/tan4congress/main Tan Nguyen Campaign Website]
*[http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/6409 Tan Nguyen Election History]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Duc Tan}}
[[Category:Vietnamese-American politicians|Nguyen, Tan]]
[[Category:1973 births|Nguyen, Tan]]
[[Category:Living people|Nguyen, Tan]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States|Nguyen, Tan]]
[[Category:Vietnamese Americans]]