In Orange County's 45th and 47th districts, candidates vie for Asian voters

Los Angeles Times Exclusive

Oct. 21, 2024 1:01 PM PT

Two congressional district races in Southern California are vying for a key voting bloc — Asians.

In a few weeks, these districts could play a key role in determining which party controls Congress. Democrats have targeted Asian voters in Districts 45 and 47 with ads in Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese. The two districts are home to over 458,000 Asians, roughly 30% of the area’s 1.5 million residents.

Decorative map of Congressional District 47 in Orange County

District 47: State Sen. Dave Min vs. Scott Baugh

Democrat State Sen. Dave Min and Republican Scott Baugh are running in California’s 47th Congressional District for the seat that was previously held by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter. The district includes several wealthy coastal cities — Huntington, Newport and Seal Beach — and reaches inland to Irvine and Costa Mesa.

After redistricting in 2022, Porter narrowly defeated Baugh, despite conservative Newport Beach and parts of Huntington Beach being added to the district. The number of registered Democrats is almost evenly split with registered Republicans, according to the latest reports from the secretary of state. However, almost a quarter of voters are registered without a party affiliation. These voters could be key to winning the seat.

The primary results point to a close showdown for Baugh and Min come November, with the GOP candidate winning 32% of the vote versus the Democrat’s 25.9%.

To keep the district blue, Min, who is Korean American, has been focusing on advertisements in Asian languages. Asians are the largest minority in the district, making up 25% of the district’s 755,000 residents. In the primary, Min won a quarter of the precincts where Koreans make up much of the Asian population, mostly in Irvine. Baugh won 22% of these areas, mostly in Newport Beach.

Min also did well in areas that are predominantly younger than 40, including the more liberal Irvine. The majority of Baugh’s votes came from the areas where the median age is older than 40, except for Costa Mesa.

Min has raised $5.6 million, while Baugh has raised $3.9 million in campaign contributions as of Sept. 30.

Decorative map of district 45 on the coast of Orange County

District 45: Rep. Michelle Steel vs. Derek Tran

Republican Rep. Michelle Steel is running for a third term in Congressional District 45 against Democrat Derek Tran. In 2020, she became one of the first three Korean American women elected to the House. Tran is Vietnamese American. It’s Tran’s first time running for elected office and he’s hoping to capture the attention of one of the largest Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam.

The newly formed district covers much of northern Orange County, including Garden Grove, Buena Park and Brea, and parts of Los Angeles, including Cerritos and Artesia. Garden Grove is 44% Asian, with mostly Vietnamese residents. Most of Artesia’s 6,500 Asians are Filipino.

Both parties are vying for support from the district’s large Asian and Latino communities, targeting them with advertisements and mailers in several Asian languages and in Spanish.

The district also includes areas such as Buena Park and Cerritos that President Biden won in 2020. It’s a toss-up district for either party to win, according to the Cook Political Report, which rates all of the House elections.

In the primary, Steel won with 54.9% of the vote, while the Democratic ticket was split among Tran and three other candidates.

Bar chart shows the primary vote breakdown for Republican Steel her Democratic opponents. Steel received 78,000 votes to the democrats' 64,100.

Many precincts saw low turnout in March, with about a sixth of the district’s 748,000 residents casting ballots. The latest voter registration report shows more registered Democrats than Republicans, but the gap is narrowing. Roughly 24% of registered voters in the district have no party preference.