Kathy Tran (born 1978) is an American politician who currently serves in the
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, she has represented the
42nd House of Delegates district since 2018.
Early life and career
Born in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, Tran and her parents fled as
boat refugees when she was seven months old. She is a
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
graduate with a Masters in Social Work degree from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. After graduating, she worked for the advocacy group
National Immigration Forum
The National Immigration Forum is an immigrant advocacy non-profit group, based in Washington, DC. It was founded by Phyllis Eisen and Rick Swartz . The Forum uses its communications, advocacy and policy expertise to advocate for immigration, refu ...
.
House of Delegates
Elections
Tran decided to run for the House in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
after the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. She ran in the
42nd district, which was then an open seat after Republican Delegate
Dave Albo
David B. Albo (born April 18, 1962) is a retired Republican politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. He represented the 42nd district of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1994 to 2018.
Personal
Albo grew up in Springfield, Virgin ...
announced his retirement. She faced retired social worker Tilly Blanding in the June 2017 Democratic primary and won with 54 percent of the vote.
Tran faced Republican Lolita Mancheno-Smoak, an engineer and
Ecuadoran immigrant, in the general election. Republicans accused Democrats of racist smears after the
Democratic Party of Virginia
The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the Democratic Party based in Richmond, Virginia.
Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, the ...
sent a mailer to voters depicting Mancheno-Smoak's face next to images of a werewolf and a hockey mask reminiscent of a
horror movie
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
with the headline, "This Halloween season, protect your family from the scariest threats."
Tran denied that the mailer was racist, saying, "The mailer highlights the frankly scary policies that my opponent supports that would threaten funding for schools, threaten access to affordable health care, and threaten funding for Planned Parenthood. This is what is at stake in our election."
Tran defeated Mancheno-Smoak in the general election, receiving 61% of the vote.
Tenure
Tran and
Kelly Fowler
Kelly Convirs-Fowler is an American politician. Since 2018, she has served in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing Virginia's 21st House of Delegates district, district 21. She was first elected in 2017 Virginia House of Delegates elect ...
were the first Asian-American women to be elected to Virginia's House of Delegates in November 2017.
She is the first Vietnamese American elected official on any level in the Commonwealth.
She currently serves on the Privileges and Elections and the Science and Technology committees in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Abortion bill
On the first day of the 2019 legislative session, Tran introduced the
Repeal Act, a bill that would have reduced the number of physicians required to approve a third-term abortion in Virginia (from three to one), and lower the threshold for approval to "any medical reason" from the previous requirement of the pregnant woman being “substantially and irredeemably” harmed by continuing the pregnancy.
The Repeal Act would have also allowed second-trimester abortions to be performed in clinics instead of hospitals and would remove the requirement that an ultrasound be performed before an abortion.
While testifying in the House of Delegates, questioned by Republican Delegate
Todd Gilbert
Christopher Todd Gilbert (born October 19, 1970) is an American politician currently serving as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. He has been a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2006, representing the 15th distr ...
, Tran replied to questions about the contents of the bill,
saying it allowed abortions up to the point of
dilating, which drew accusations from Republicans of attempting to legalize
infanticide
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...
.
"My bill would allow that, yes," Tran said in response to Gilbert's question. The bill failed to pass the state legislature, but video of Tran's exchange with Gilbert went viral after being shared by conservative media outlets.
Tran suspended her social media accounts in response to threats against herself and her family.
Electoral history
Personal life
Tran is married and the mother of five children.
See also
*
2017 Virginia House of Delegates elections
The Virginia House of Delegates election of 2017 was held on Tuesday, November 7. All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates were contested. The Republican Party held a 66–34 majority in the House of Delegates before the election but lo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Kathy
1978 births
Living people
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American feminists
American politicians of Vietnamese descent
American women of Vietnamese descent in politics
Duke University alumni
People from West Springfield, Virginia
University of Michigan School of Social Work alumni
Vietnamese emigrants to the United States
Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates