California Republican Assembly Endorses Chuong Vo After Charlie Nguyen’s Comments on Sharia Law Draw Gasps at Candidate Forum

Westminster’s mayor, already under fire for voting to silence the only woman on his city council, now faces questions about constitutional fitness for Congress

The California Republican Assembly has endorsed Chuong Vo for California’s 45th Congressional District after rival candidate Charlie Nguyen reportedly expressed support for allowing Sharia law to operate alongside American law at a Republican grassroots forum. The comments drew audible gasps from activists in attendance, according to Vo’s campaign.

The California Republican Assembly has endorsed Chuong Vo in the Republican primary for California’s 45th Congressional District, following a candidate forum at which rival Charlie Nguyen — the mayor of Westminster — reportedly made comments suggesting Sharia law could operate within California’s legal system.

According to a press release from the Vo campaign, Nguyen’s remarks drew “audible gasps and concern from the Republican activists and grassroots leaders” present at the endorsement forum. The CRA — founded in 1935 and one of California’s oldest conservative organizations — subsequently awarded its endorsement to Vo.

“Either Nguyen believes it is acceptable for foreign religious legal systems like Sharia law to operate alongside American law, or he does not fully understand the issue well enough to recognize why it conflicts with the Constitution,” the Vo campaign said in the release. Nguyen’s campaign had not publicly responded to the characterization as of Monday.

“I will always defend the Constitution of the United States and the principle that American law must always come first,” said Vo, a former Cerritos mayor and 28-year law enforcement veteran who came to the United States as a Vietnamese refugee. The CRA endorsement adds to a growing list that includes Reform California, Carl DeMaio, the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, and the Lincoln Club of Orange County.

A pattern worth asking about

The CRA forum incident arrives as Nguyen’s record on the Westminster City Council has come under scrutiny from a different angle: his treatment of Amy Phan West, the only woman currently serving on the council.

As North OC Pulse reported, Nguyen cast the deciding vote to bar Phan West from speaking at city events. The motion was led by Carlos Manzo — a colleague Phan West had previously filed a police report against — and the third vote came from Nguyen’s own brother-in-law, Mark Nguyen. The three men moved to silence the only female voice on the Westminster City Council.

Phan West is also running for Congress in CA-45, making Nguyen’s use of city government power to restrict her speech a direct campaign advantage — and a question courts may yet weigh in on.

Whether the Sharia law comments at the CRA forum represent a genuine position, a misstatement, or something more nuanced, the optics are difficult for a candidate already on record voting to mute the only woman in the room. The Republican primary base in CA-45 — a district anchored in Little Saigon, where the community’s Vietnamese refugees built their lives specifically fleeing authoritarian government — is not going to overlook either data point easily.

CA-45 is considered one of the most competitive congressional seats in California and a key race for control of the House in 2026. The Republican primary field also includes Amy Phan West and Tom Vo, who led the fundraising race through the last reporting period.