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Madison Nguyen

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Madison Nguyen
Vice Mayor of San Jose
In office
2011–2014
Member of the San Jose City Council for District 7
In office
2005–2014
Preceded byTerry Gregory[1]
Succeeded byTam Nguyen[2]
Personal details
BornVietnam
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSan Jose, California
Alma materUniversity of California, Santa Cruz (BA)
University of Chicago (MA)

Madison Nguyen is an American politician from California.[3][4] She served on the San Jose City Council from 2005 to 2014, representing District 7, and she additionally served as Vice-Mayor from 2011 to 2014. She was the first Vietnamese-American elected to the city council.[5]

Nguyen previously served as the executive vice president of the Silicon Valley Organization, now known as the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.

Early life

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Madison and her family escaped Vietnam on a small fishing boat when she was four years old. Her family then settled in various refugee camps in the Philippines until a Lutheran church sponsored them to Scottsdale, Arizona. Her father worked as a janitor, receiving a stipend of only $500 a month to support his wife and children. Eventually, he moved his family to Modesto, California, in search of employment for his family in the Central Valley.[6] Madison worked in the fields alongside her parents as a teenager.[3] She is one of nine siblings.[7]

Madison received her Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She received a master's degree from the University of Chicago. She returned to California in 2000 to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology at UC Santa Cruz.

Political career

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School board

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Nguyen began to become more involved in politics in 2001, while working as a sociology instructor at De Anza College;[7] inspired by MTV's "Rock the Vote" campaign, she and members of the Vietnamese community organised a voter drive in which nearly 5,000 new voters registered to vote for the first time.[3][8] She followed that up with a run for a position on the Franklin-McKinley School District Board of Education, hoping that her election would encourage Vietnamese Americans to get more involved in local politics.[9] Her win made her one of the first two school board officials of Vietnamese descent in the United States. The other, elected around the same time, was Lan Nguyen of Garden Grove, a city in southern California's Orange County.[10] However, it was Nguyen's organisation of protests in support of Bich Cau Thi Tran, a Vietnamese woman shot to death by a San Jose police constable that brought her to the forefront of people's minds in the Vietnamese American community. Nguyen, who felt the incident was being ignored by the public and the media, organised a rally to which nearly 300 people showed up.[4]

City Council

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In September 2005, she ran for city council in a special election to replace Terry Gregory in District 7.[5] Vietnamese Americans, who formed less than 10% of San Jose's population at the time, turned out in record numbers during the primary election in June to support Madison Nguyen and Linda Nguyen, pushing them ahead of seven other candidates.[11] Madison Nguyen won 44% of the primary vote, while Linda Nguyen, a real estate attorney, received 27%.[12] In the run-off, Madison Nguyen received 62% of the votes cast, beating out Linda Nguyen to become the first Vietnamese American to serve on the San Jose's City Council.[5] e

District naming controversy and recall attempt

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Main article: Little Saigon, San Jose

Nguyen's support from the Vietnamese American community suffered a sharp reversal in early January 2008, in a controversy over whether the Little Saigon district, an area of a Story Road in her council district with a large percentage of Vietnamese retailers, should be named as "Little Saigon" or "Little Saigon Business District". Little Saigon is a common name used for various other Vietnamese-American commercial enclaves, particularly known in Orange County, California. Nguyen suggested the name "Little Saigon Business District" after she heard from different groups in her council district who wanted the word "New" to be included in the name, indicating a new life in America after they left their homeland. She thought Saigon Business District was a good compromise between Little Saigon and New Saigon so she recommended Saigon Business District as the name for the designation. Supporters of the Little Saigon denounced Nguyen as a traitor to the community because she did not support what they deemed as the "majority" of the Vietnamese community supported, which was "Little Saigon." The City Council voted to name the business district as Little Saigon Business District.

After recurring protests in front of City Hall for several months, on 4 March 2008, the city council voted to rescind the "Little Saigon Business District" name, but stopped short of renaming it "Little Saigon". Instead, they proposed setting up a process by which business owners could choose district names. However, anger against Nguyen remained. On 22 April 2008, the issue was reopened with the submission of recall papers against Nguyen by the Recall Madison Nguyen committee. On 9 October the petition qualified for the 3 March 2009 ballot, having garnered more than 150% of the needed valid signatures. On 3 March 2009, voters rejected the recall attempt with a 55-45% vote. A year later, Nguyen won re-election and in 2011, she was nominated by Mayor Chuck Reed and was approved unanimously by the city council to be Vice Mayor. She is also the first Vietnamese Vice Mayor in the history of San Jose.

2014 mayoral campaign

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Nguyen ran unsuccessfully in the 2014 San Jose mayoral election, placing third in the first round, thus, failing to advance to the runoff election.[13]

Nguyen formally filed to run for mayor on December 19, 2012, becoming the second candidate to do so.[14]

Per Mike Rosenberg of The Mercury News, Nguyen centered her candidacy heavily on her life story, with less emphasis on her record or policy positions. During her campaign, Rosenberg wrote that Nguyen, "has an inspiring rags-to-riches story stemming from her family’s escape from Vietnam and has built a coalition of supporters — especially the city’s large immigrant population — who see a rare politician they can connect with."[15]

2016 State Assembly campaign

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In April 2015, Madison Nguyen announced her intention to run for California State Assembly District 27, an open seat being vacated by term-limited Nora Campos.[circular reference] The primary election was in June 2016, followed by a November general election, which coincided with the next presidential contest. Nguyen began rolling out her campaign platform soon after her announcement. Her first significant proposal was to support a new University of California campus, and to locate it in San Jose.[citation needed] Her first notable endorsement came from San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. Other declared candidates included San Jose City Councillor Ash Kalra, Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Darcie Green, activist Cong Do, and Republican Van Le.[citation needed]

Madison won a decisive victory in the primary, with more than 11,000 more votes than her closest competitor.

Originally predicted to easily win the general election over Ash Kalra, she ultimately lost in an upset, in part after Kalra managed to run effective mailers focusing on police shortages in San Jose.[16]

Subsequent career

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In February 2017, Nguyen became executive director for the nonprofit Hunger at Home.[16]

Nguyen served as the executive vice president of the Silicon Valley Organization from January 15, 2018,[17][18] to 2021.[19]

Electoral history

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San Jose City Council

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2005 San Jose City Council district 7 special election
Candidate General Election[20] Runoff Election[21]
Votes % Votes %
Madison Nguyen 3,341 44.61 5,603 62.55
Linda Nguyen 1,990 26.57 3,355 37.45
Beth Gonzales 950 12.68
Ed Voss 704 9.40
Rudy Rodriguez 351 4.69
Timothy Lauwers 71 0.95
Mahealani 42 0.56
Andrew Abraham Diaz 41 0.55
Turnout 7,490 8,958 30.45


2006 San Jose City Council district 7 election[22]
Candidate Votes %
Madison Nguyen (incumbent) 7,179 100
Total votes 7,179 100


2009 San Jose City Council district 7 recall election[23]
Candidate Votes %
No (against recall) 7,270 55.21
Yes (for recall) 5,897 44.79
Total votes 13,167 100
Voter turnout 42.78%
2010 San Jose City Council district 7 election
Candidate General Election[24] Runoff Election[25]
Votes % Votes %
Madison Nguyen (incumbent) 4,578 41.33 7,625 54.33
Minh Duong 2,666 24.07 6,410 45.67
Patrick Phu Le 1,895 17.11
Rudy J. Rodriguez 1,586 14.32
Vietnam Nguyen 351 3.17
Total 11,076 100 14,035 100

San Jose mayor

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2014 San Jose mayoral election
Candidate General Election[26] Runoff Election[27]
Votes % Votes %
Sam Liccardo 33,521 25.75 91,840 50.76
Dave Cortese 43,887 33.72 89,090 49.24
Madison Nguyen 26,365 20.26
Pierluigi C. Oliverio 13,197 10.14
Rose Herrera 7,950 6.11
Mike Alvarado 1,959 1.51
Timothy Harrison 1,715 1.32
Bill Chew 1,563 1.20
Total 130,157 100 180,930 100

California state assembly

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See also: California State Assembly election, 2016
California's 27th State Assembly district election, 2016
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Madison Nguyen 27,453 34.3
Democratic Ash Kalra 15,843 19.8
Republican Van Le 11,726 14.7
Democratic Andres Quintero 10,922 13.7
Democratic Cong Thanh Do 4,869 6.1
Democratic Darcie Green 4,769 6.0
Democratic Esau Herrera 4,342 5.4
Total votes 79,924 100.0
General election
Democratic Ash Kalra 69,934 53.2
Democratic Madison Nguyen 61,436 46.8
Total votes 131,370 100.0
Democratic hold

References

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  1. ^ McEnery, John IV (24 June 2005). "District 7 Candidates Drop Out of Council Race". www.sanjoseinside.com. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Tam Nguyen". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Molina, Joshua (2008-01-14), "The rise, troubles of San Jose Councillor Madison Nguyen", San Jose Mercury News, retrieved 2008-02-28
  4. ^ a b Gottlieb, Allie (2003-08-28), "Madison Nguyen: The Visible Woman", Metro Active, Silicon Valley, retrieved 2008-02-28
  5. ^ a b c Fulbright, Leslie (2005-09-15), "Council win is first for a Viet American", San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved 2008-02-28
  6. ^ Molina, Joshua (2008-01-14). "The rise, troubles of San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  7. ^ a b Biography of Madison Nguyen, Madison Nguyen, City of San José Councillor, official website, 2009, archived from the original on 15 April 2009, retrieved 2009-06-25
  8. ^ Alicia Gaura, Maria (2003-09-30), "The Vietnamese Recall reveals newfound independence", The San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved 2008-02-28
  9. ^ Kang, Cecilia (2002-11-01), "Asians promote political power", San Jose Mercury News, retrieved 2008-02-28
  10. ^ Yi, Daniel (2002-11-29), "Beating the Odds in Garden Grove Race", San Jose Mercury News, archived from the original on May 24, 2011, retrieved 2008-02-28
  11. ^ "Nguyen Vs. Nguyen; Race to become San Jose's first Vietnamese-American councillor ends", The Sacramento Union, 2005-09-14, archived from the original on 26 September 2007, retrieved 2008-02-28
  12. ^ "Madison Nguyen Wins San Jose City Council Seat", KTVU News, 2005-09-13, archived from the original on 2008-03-11, retrieved 2008-02-28
  13. ^ "Mayoral Contenders Recruit Madison Nguyen's Endorsement". San Jose Inside. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  14. ^ Koehn, Josh (27 February 2013). "Madison Nguyen Files Papers to Run for Mayor of San Jose in 2014". San Jose Inside. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  15. ^ Rosenberg, Mike (14 May 2014). "San Jose mayor's race: Madison Nguyen, great story but light on policy". The Mercury News. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b Herold, Scott (2 February 2017). "Madison Nguyen takes new gig with Hunger at Home". East Bay Times. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Madison Nguyen Joins The Silicon Valley Organization As Its New Executive Vice President". www.thesvo.com. The Silicon Valley Organization. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Madison Nguyen: The New Exec VP of the Silicon Valley Organization". The Left Hook. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  19. ^ Wolfe, Eli (September 10, 2021). "San Jose Chamber of Commerce is diversifying—slowly". San José Spotlight. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  20. ^ "June 7, 2005 Special Election". www.sccgov.org. County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters. 13 Jun 2005. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  21. ^ "September 13, 2005 Special Election". www.sccgov.org. County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters. 19 September 2005. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  22. ^ "June 6, 2006 Gubernatorial Primary Election". www.sccgov.org. County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  23. ^ "March 3, 2009 San Jose Special Election - SUMMARY RESULTS". www.sccgov.org. Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. 3 Sep 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  24. ^ "June 8, 2010 Gubernatorial Primary Election - SUMMARY RESULTS". www.sccgov.org. Santa Clara County, California. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  25. ^ "November 2, 2010 Gubernatorial General Election". www.sccgov.org. Santa Clara County, California. 23 Nov 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  26. ^ "Santa Clara - Election Results". Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. June 30, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  27. ^ "Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Election Results, Mayor, City of San Jose". November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
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