Hung Nguyen: A Politician by Necessity

By Michelle Phipps-Evans

Hung Nguyen generally refers to himself as a small business owner and as a community activist and leader. The immigrant from Vietnam knows one thing for certain: he’s not comfortable being referred to as a politician. “Politicians have a bad ‘rep.,’ and I’m not running to be a politician,” said Nguyen, 41, who recently announced his candidacy to represent the 67th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly, the state’s legislative body based in Richmond, Va. “I’m a leader who is results oriented. I had to do a lot with a little bit, so I can’t do too much talking. I have to produce.”

Measuring success by results is something that Nguyen is familiar with as a business owner of a year-old information technology consulting company in Fairfax, Va., and by working for small businesses and nonprofits for several years.

“As a small business owner, I understand what it takes to make ends meet to support our families, neighbors and the surrounding community,” said Nguyen at the Aug. 11 kickoff and candidacy announcement at the Herndon home of Alan Krishnan, a constituent. The event attracted several Virginia leaders, community members and supporters from across the district.

“I’m not a lawyer and I’m not the brightest guy with policy, but I know who to go to,” Nguyen said. “It’s a team effort to make phone calls and to knock on doors, to make things happen.” The path to the Virginia House of Delegates was not so clearly defined for Nguyen who fled Vietnam with his family after the Fall of Saigon in 1975. He was only three years old.

The eldest of five children, Nguyen and his family settled on the West Coast as political refugees. He graduated as his high school class valedictorian and won several college scholarships that helped him to earn his bachelor’s degree in psychology and philosophy from St. John’s College Seminary in California; and he studied theology at St. John’s Seminary. He then spent 11 years studying to become a Roman Catholic priest.

“A year from my ordination, I decided to take a break,” said Nguyen who’s currently completing a master’s degree in business administration at Western Governor’s University. This was when he decided it wasn’t the path he wanted to take for the rest of his life.

“I came to the area to work on my relationship with my wife,” said Nguyen who’s been married for about 10 years to Jung Nguyen, a Korean-American, with whom he has one son. Both parents speak Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and English to their three year old.

On Nov. 5, 2013, Nguyen, a Democrat, will challenge the Republican incumbent James LeMunyon in the General Election. If elected, Nguyen will become the first Vietnamese American to serve in a state legislature on the East Coast, according to Nguyen’s kick-off release.

“My chances are high,” said Nguyen. “If people want me to win, they need to go out and vote. And for those who can’t vote in my district, but who want to support me, they should give $5 to my campaign. It’s the same price for a cup of Starbucks coffee.”

LeMunyon, the delegate for the 67th House District since 2010, represents parts of Chantilly, Fairfax, Herndon and South Riding in Virginia. In 2012, President Barack Obama won the district by 8 percent and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine won it by 10 percent. They are both Democrats who competed for the area’s rapidly growing Asian-American population, which now makes up 21 percent of the district’s inhabitants.

The Town of Herndon Council member Grace Han Wolf said Nguyen will better represent the 67th District than the current delegate. “I think Hung is genuinely plugged into the entire community not just select parts of it,” said Han Wolf, a council member since 2010. “I think he has an unparalleled relationship with the ordinary commuters, parents, business owners and residents of his district and can relate to them in a way that LeMunyon simply cannot or will not…Hung understands the issues first hand and will work hard to make a difference in the local economy, transportation and education.”

These are the issues at the forefront of Nguyen’s campaign Democratic Committee. On his website, he discussed how to help to fix the economy by supporting businesses with opportunities that create jobs; that children deserved equal access to pre-k education and the best education to create the foundation of Virginia’s future workforce; and that when it comes to transportation, roads should be completed in a timely fashion, as shorter construction timelines will result in less hours lost in traffic.

Nguyen said he’s committed to giving back to the community and that he believes in serving others. He has served on the boards of many nonprofits and is the former chief executive of the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, an advocacy organization to advance the cause of Vietnamese Americans. He is a member of the Order of St. Lazarus, a philanthropy-based organization dedicated to worldwide charity and chivalric tradition; and he’s held leadership roles in the Conference of Asian Pacific American Leadership, a think tank dedicated to building public policy knowledge and leadership within the Asian Pacific American community.

Nguyen’s recent political appointments included the Fairfax County Consumer Protection Commission and the Governor’s Commission for National and Community Service. He received Fairfax County’s Barbara Varon Volunteer Service Award in 2008 to recognize his selfless service to others.

Besides Han Wolf, Nguyen has collected a string of ringing endorsements that included the AFL-CIO, the Asian American Action Fund and several state senators and house delegates in the Virginia General Assembly, school board leaders and others.

“Hung is an insider for the Asian-American community and the Latino community and will be a trusted go-to person for these unengaged and underserved communities,” Han Wolf added. “It’s so important we have electeds who genuinely care about the entire community, not just parts of it, and not one who just wants to do a photo op and move on.”

Nguyen said he wants people to know him as the “Virginia delegate who happens to be Asian who happens to be Vietnamese and who happens to be Catholic.”

“I am the guy who’s going to get it done in the next two years,” he added. “If you don’t like my job, then you can vote me out.”

Stay tuned to more election coverage from Asian Fortune by following us on fb.com/asianfortune or on Twitter @asianfortune_dc