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.
Rep. Derek Tran voted against the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2026 over objections to ICE funding. Days later, his office announced more than $5 million in federally funded local projects — money that came through the same appropriations process he opposed.
North OC Pulse ran the official ballot statements of all five Republican candidates in the CA-45 congressional race through Grok AI and asked it to predict a winner. Here is what it found.
Tom Vo has emerged as the leading fundraiser among Republican challengers in the CA-45 race, reporting $502,800 for the most recent quarter — while Amy Phan West draws support from a broad base of small individual donors.
Long Pham is running for California's 42nd Congressional District — his latest bid in a decade-long string of campaigns that has drawn repeated scrutiny from the state's campaign finance watchdog.
