Vietnamese American man elected to Washington state legislature

Northwest Asian WeeklyOn November 8, Joe Nguyen won against his opponent Shannon Braddock in the race for the 34th congressional district. With 57.4% of the vote, he became the first Vietnamese-American in the Washington state Senate. This is considered one of the highlights of the midterm elections here.

Like many Vietnamese who came to America decades ago, Joe’s family did not have it easy. They relied heavily on welfare, and when Joe’s father became a quadriplegic and died in an accident, his mother became the breadwinner for her four children. This difficult situation made Joe and his siblings aware of their responsibilities early on and they did not hesitate to take on any job to earn money to make ends meet.

In an interview in May, Joe said he slept on a dirty mattress in the basement of his family’s rundown home. His mother was a seamstress and Joe would often wake up while she sewed backpacks.

Despite his difficult family background, he was consistently at the top of his class and was class president in high school. He then went on to attend Seattle University and served as student body president for two years, a rare feat in the school's history.

Joe was very grateful to those who helped his family, so he later actively participated in social activities as well as supported affordable housing and health care services for the people. Joe is currently a senior manager at Microsoft Corporation, in addition to his role as president of Wellspring Family Services, an organization that helps homeless children and families.

"I think about where I started, growing up in public housing in White Center, working as a janitor in high school to help my family, washing dishes at night to pay for college, and now being a state senator is proof that anything is possible," Joe said amid a bustling crowd of supporters at a restaurant after the election results were announced.

In addition to Mr. Joe Nguyen, Washington state has another Vietnamese-American winner in the midterm elections. With 65% of the vote, Ms. Thai My Linh defeated her opponent Michael Appleby to become a representative of the 41st congressional district.

Ms. My Linh came to the United States to live at the age of 15. After graduating from the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, she and her husband opened a pediatric neurology practice and worked as pharmacists in Billings, Montana. She is also the president of the Bellevue School District Board, Washington.