Residents of California’s 70th Assembly District are on track to have a new representative in the California Legislature.
Assemblymember Tri Ta, R-Westminster, conceded Monday night, Nov. 9, to Democrat Paula Swift in the race for the Orange County Assembly seat, thanking voters “for giving me the opportunity to serve.”
“While this is not the outcome we had hoped for, I respect the decision of the voters. Serving the people of the 70th Assembly District has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Ta said in a statement posted to Facebook. “My family came to America from Saigon in search of freedom and a better future. Throughout that journey, I have never forgotten where I came from or why I chose to serve.
As of Tuesday morning, Swift leads Ta 51%
As of Tuesday morning, Swift leads Ta 51% to 49%, a 2,749-vote lead, according to the latest unofficial results from the California secretary of state’s office.
Democrats saw a massive blue wave across the country in the midterm elections, and after Election Day, California Republicanswatched vote counting in this race to see how much that wave would sweep Southern California.
The 70th Assembly District includes Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Garden Grove, Westminster and Fountain Valley.
Swift, a small business owner from Seal Beach, said on Tuesday that she is excited to get to work representing her constituents in the district.
I’m really looking forward to bringing real change
“I’m really looking forward to bringing real change to areas of the district that have been largely overlooked. We’re really just ready to get to work,” she said.
Since launching her bid for Assembly, Swift, 57, has campaigned on investing in community reg pathways to homeownership and stable housing, lowering costs and more
In an interview Tuesday, Swift said her top priority in the statehouse will be to focus on what voters signaled while she was on the campaign trail, namely “bread and butter issues” like affordability and addressing homelessness.
What I’ve noticed on the campaign trail
“What I’ve noticed on the campaign trail is that there is a tremendous issue with homelessness, as it relates to mental health and addiction issues, and just really looking at how we can shift from having public parks filled with unhoused individuals so that kids can actually get back to the parks and play,” she said.
Ta, 53, was born in Saigon. In the early 1990s, he and his family immigrated to the U.S. “in search of political freedom,” according to his Assembly bio.
Ta was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
His political career began in 2006 on the Westminster City Council. He was selected as mayor pro tempore in 2008, then made history in 2012 when he became the first Vietnamese-American elected mayor in the United States, according to his office.
Ta was first elected to the state legislature
Ta was first elected to the state legislature in 2022 and reelected in 2024. He serves on the Assembly’s Appropriations, Governmental Organization, Housing and Community Development, Rules and Utilities and Energy committees. He also vice chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Local Government.
His focus has been on lowering costs, reducing homelessness and bolstering public safety efforts since he was first elected, the California Assembly Republican Caucus noted.
Under state law, all results stemming from the Nov. 3 general election must be certified by Dec. 3 and sent to the secretary of state’s office by Dec. 4. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber must certify elections by Dec. 11, according to her office.
