Madison Nguyen

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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

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

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

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

San Jose City Council

Madison Nguyen
Madison Nguyen.jpg
Vice Mayor of San Jose
In office
2011–2014
2005 San Jose City Council district 7 special election
CandidateGeneral Election [20] Runoff Election [21]
Votes%Votes%
Madison Nguyen3,34144.615,60362.55
Linda Nguyen1,99026.573,35537.45
Beth Gonzales95012.68
Ed Voss7049.40
Rudy Rodriguez3514.69
Timothy Lauwers710.95
Mahealani420.56
Andrew Abraham Diaz410.55
Turnout 7,4908,95830.45
2006 San Jose City Council district 7 election [22]
CandidateVotes %
Madison Nguyen (incumbent)7,179100
Total votes7,179 100
2009 San Jose City Council district 7 recall election [23]
CandidateVotes %
No (against recall)7,27055.21
Yes (for recall)5,89744.79
Total votes13,167 100
Voter turnout42.78%
2010 San Jose City Council district 7 election
CandidateGeneral Election [24] Runoff Election [25]
Votes%Votes%
Madison Nguyen (incumbent)4,57841.337,62554.33
Minh Duong2,66624.076,41045.67
Patrick Phu Le1,89517.11
Rudy J. Rodriguez1,58614.32
Vietnam Nguyen3513.17
Total11,07610014,035100

San Jose mayor

2014 San Jose mayoral election
CandidateGeneral Election [26] Runoff Election [27]
Votes%Votes%
Sam Liccardo 33,52125.7591,84050.76
Dave Cortese 43,887 33.7289,09049.24
Madison Nguyen26,36520.26
Pierluigi C. Oliverio 13,19710.14
Rose Herrera7,9506.11
Mike Alvarado1,9591.51
Timothy Harrison1,7151.32
Bill Chew1,5631.20
Total130,157100180,930100

California state assembly

California's 27th State Assembly district election, 2016
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Madison Nguyen27,45334.3
Democratic Ash Kalra15,84319.8
Republican Van Le11,72614.7
Democratic Andres Quintero10,92213.7
Democratic Cong Thanh Do4,8696.1
Democratic Darcie Green4,7696.0
Democratic Esau Herrera4,3425.4
Total votes79,924 100.0
General election
Democratic Ash Kalra 69,934 53.2
Democratic Madison Nguyen61,43646.8
Total votes131,370 100.0
Democratic hold

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References

  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. 1 2 3 Molina, Joshua (2008-01-14), "The rise, troubles of San Jose Councillor Madison Nguyen", San Jose Mercury News, retrieved 2008-02-28
  4. 1 2 Gottlieb, Allie (2003-08-28), "Madison Nguyen: The Visible Woman", Metro Active, Silicon Valley, retrieved 2008-02-28
  5. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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, 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. 1 2 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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