| Senator Janet Nguyen was elected to represent the 36th District in 2022, which includes coastal Orange County, Little Saigon and parts of Los Angeles County.
Born in Vietnam, Janet and her family escaped communism on a small wooden 10-meter boat sailing across the South China Sea in search of freedom. After passing through numerous refugee camps, Janet and her family arrived in California in 1981.
Janet is a small business owner with a long history of public service, having been elected as a state senator and an Assembly member for Orange County. She was also a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and a Garden Grove City Council member.
As senator, Janet was named Legislator of the Year by the American Legion, the Association of the United States Army, and the Vietnam Veterans of America. She was named "Champion of Manufacturing" by the California Manufacturers and Technology Association for working to protect jobs, and received top ratings from leading consumer advocacy groups such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California Taxpayers Association.
Janet has a history of firsts. She was the first woman to represent the 72nd Assembly District, the first Vietnamese-American in the country to be elected to both the state Senate and state Assembly, the highest-ranking Vietnamese-American elected official in the United States and the only Asian American woman Legislator in California.
In addition, she was the first Asian-American and Vietnamese-American to serve on the Board of Supervisors and the youngest Supervisor in Orange County history.
Janet has received several community awards. This includes the We Give Thanks 2004 Women of Vision Award, which recognizes outstanding women who have provided exceptional services to the community, the Orange County Register's "30 Vietnamese-Americans to Watch" and OC Metro's "25 Hottest People" her leadership and influence in Southern California.
Janet is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine and the Aspen Institute's Aspen-Rodel Fellowship Leadership Program. She resides in Huntington Beach with her husband, Tom and two sons. |