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Tri Ta

Tri Ta
Tạ Đức Trí
Member of the California State Assembly from the 70th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 5, 2022
Preceded by	Patrick O'Donnell
Mayor of Westminster, California
In office 2012–2022
Personal details
Born	(1973-04-10) April 10, 1973 (age 51) Saigon, South Vietnam
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Residence(s)	Westminster, California
Occupation	Politician

Tri Ta (born April 10, 1973) is a Vietnamese-born American politician currently serving as a member of the California State Assembly. He represents Assembly District 70, which consists of much of the Little Saigon area of northwestern Orange County. He previously served as Mayor of Westminster, California.

Early life and education[edit]

Ta was born in Saigon in Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City). In 1992, he and his parents immigrated to the United States as refugees. Ta was 19 at the time.^[1]

Political career[edit]

Ta served as a city councilor in Westminster before being elected mayor. He became mayor in 2012 and was the city's first Vietnamese-American mayor.^[1][2] Ta was reelected in 2018. He is a Republican and has advocated for the Republican Party to take a greater interest in Vietnamese voters. Vietnamese Americans traditionally voted Republicans, but Democrats have made gains recently, especially in Orange County.^[3]

In 2019, Ta attracted publicity for clashing with other members of Westminster's city council. He and fellow council members Kimberly Ho and Chi Charlie Nguyen frequently sparred with the remaining members. Notably, they passed a controversial resolution alleging that the Vietnamese government was improperly interfering in city politics.^[4] This dispute culminated in the three voting to change the council's procedures over the objections of other members.^[5] Opponents of the three councilors filed for a recall election in response.^[6] In April 2020, Ta and his allies survived the recall attempt.^[7]

In January 2022, Ta announced his intention to run for election to the California State Assembly in district 70, which was being vacated by incumbent Janet Nguyen.^[8] He placed second in the top-two primary in June and faced Garden Grove City Councilwoman Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen in the November general election.^[9] That same year, a council dispute over renewing Westminster's sales tax placed the city at risk of bankruptcy.^[10][11] Ta was also censured for false statements he made about other councilors.^[12]

In November 2022, Ta won the election to the California State Assembly. He took office in December.

Electoral history[edit]

Westminster, California mayoral recall election, 2020

Choice	Votes	%
No	10,165	59.32
Yes	6,970	40.68
Total votes	17,135	100.00
Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters[14]

References[edit]