CD47 Watch: Quang Pham Makes Primary Challenge To Van Tran Official

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CD47 Watch: Quang Pham Makes Primary Challenge To Van Tran Official

By Matthew Cunningham | 07/02/09 | 04:06 PM EDT | 5 Comments

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Martin Wisckol over at Total Buzz reports that Quang X. Pham, who last month changed his registration from decline-to-state to Republican, has made his candidacy for the 47th Congressional District official, thus setting up a primary battle with Assemblyman Van Tran.

Quang X. Pham is finalizing his Federal Elections Commission paperwork today to make his underdog congressional bid official, moving it from the exploratory phase.

On his recent party switch, Quang told Wisckol:

“Most of my supporters and most of my policies - personal liberty, less government, lower taxes, Second Amendment - are Republican,” he said. And while he’s been well received by the GOP as a new Republican, his candidacy has not been eagerly greeted by party officials.

“A lot of people have basically said, ‘Welcome to the party. What took you so long? Now drop out,’” he said. “And I understand that - that they think I should start at the local level and work my way up. But behind the scenes, I’m getting enough support from the business and Vietnamese community. A lot of people want a fresh voice.

Van Tran is enroute to OC and unavailable, but his chief of staff, Paul Hegyi, had this response:

"We’re focused on putting together the best campaign Orange County has ever seen. Van has been active in this district for 25 years- people know him and know he will make a great member of Congress."

I asked Hegyi about how the campaign would deal with Pham, he said:

"There will be time enough to talk about our challengers later, now is the time to focus on our own campaign."

I remain convinced Van Tran wins the primary, although I'm sure there will be intense discussion within party circles in the coming weeks about the wisdom of an expensive, divisive primary when the GOP is in its best position in a long time to take out Rep. Loretta Sanchez. The downside for Quang Pham is if he loses the primary and then a weakened Van Tran loses to Loretta, Republicans will (fairly or unfairly) blame Quang.

It's an ironic situation. The OC GOP 's customary situation in CD47 is desperately hunting for a strong candidate to run against Sanchez. Now, the party finds itself dealing with the prospect of two strong candidates scrapping in a primary brawl that will most likely benefit Sanchez.

You can read previous Red County.com posts on this primary showdown here, here and here.

TAGS: Quang Pham, Van Tran, Loretta Sanchez, 47th congressional district

5 Comments | Related Topics »Orange County (CA)

Comments

What a pretender...QXP is

What a pretender...QXP is only looking for some free publicity. I doubt he will go through with this.

Submitted by Boo on Thu, 07/02/09 - 05:05 PM »

I'm disappointed in Quang

Quang,

As one Marine to another, I'm disappointed in your decision to run for the 47th CD. You have not earned your stripes (or your bars) in Republican politics either as a volunteer or as a local Elected. Therefore, you are an unknown quantity; to many of us, not unlike Tan Nguyen, who ran as a Democrat in one cycle than conveniently "found" the GOP and immediately put his hat in the ring for Congress. You have no public record of staunch support for any Republican campaign that I am aware of and you have no voting record upon which the Republicans (and all voters) in the 47th can rely upon to determine your worthiness. You simply are not ready at this time.

Just like Tan Nguyen, it appears the sincere welcomes and sound advice for you to prove yourself locally before running for higher office is falling on deaf, overly ambitious ears. If you are truly serious about being a Republican and want any real support for a campaign, then I suggest we sit down together and look at some of the local races that will be open for 11/10. Then, instead of any backlash from Republicans for causing Van to spend more money than necessary in the Primary, you can surge ahead in synergy WITH his campaign with every expectation of winning the seat you run for.

That's my G2 briefing and straight-forward advice to you, Marine. For the good of all concerned I recommend and respectfully request you stand down and march in a different direction. Please don't be another Tan Nguyen. You have way more to offer and have way more to gain if properly deployed.

You know my grid coordinates if you'd like to shoot a vector.

Semper Fi,

Tim

Submitted by Tim Whitacre on Fri, 07/03/09 - 12:49 AM »

I totally agree with Tim

Wow, Tim, I think you just penned what a lot of us were thinking. I hope Quang understands the wisdom in your advice to him. Otherwise just like Tan Nguyen, he will be persona non grata after his huge Primary defeat to Van Tran. It appears from my position Quang's ego is writing checks his wallet and his future in OC politics can't afford.

Submitted by Good advice on Fri, 07/03/09 - 12:12 PM »

Ego Over Principles

Quang is always a nice guy when you meet him and his service to our country is something I will always be grateful for, but everything he claims to believe in, are the same things Van Tran has actually been working for:

"less government, lower taxes and strong national defense. I believe in individual choices, liberty and the right to pursue happiness. I believe in personal responsibility and respect for others."

He is going to sell a few more books in the process of ruining GOP chances and he will have sent the country in the exact opposite direction he claims to care about. All he is doing is helping Sanchez by wasting all of the hard earned money of Van's contributors. Makes you wonder if ego is more important to this neophyte than principles.

Even Janet Nguyen, after all the fights her and Van have had, cares enough about getting Sanchez out to sit on the sidelines for this race. If Quang cared at all about GOP values or the fight for Vietnamese human rights and democracy, he would end this publicity charade.

Submitted by Milo on Fri, 07/03/09 - 02:10 PM »

Pham should get out

Why didn't Quang Pham run in previous years againbst Sanchez, but pick this year to sabotage the best chance a Republican may have to unseat her?

Pham should get out of the way because he can't win, in either the Primary or the General election. He should not waste time, money and resource for the Republicans .... if he's a "real" Republican. This guy has not delivered a thing and his name ID is about zero in Central Orange Copunty. Nobody knbows who he is.

Pham wil destroy his own future by running inb this race.

Submitted by Political Consultant on Sun, 07/05/09 - 02:17 PM »