Steel, 69, was born in Seoul and raised in South Korea, Japan and the United States.
She’s had a long-standing career in GOP politics, serving on the state Board of Equalization for eight years before being elected as an Orange County supervisor in 2014. She won a seat in Congress in 2020, becoming one of the first three Korean American women elected to the House.
In Congress, Steel sponsored a bill known as the Deterrent Act, which would expand oversight and disclosure requirements related to foreign money and influence in higher education. She also sponsored the Hospital and ASC Price Transparency Act, which would require hospitals to publish the prices of at least 300 services in a way that’s easy for consumers to find.
She is married to Shawn Steel, former chairman of the California Republican Party.
Tran, 43, is a lawyer and a workers’ rights advocate. He grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and in 2012 moved to Orange County, where he and his wife opened an Anaheim pharmacy. He serves on the board of the Consumer Attorneys Assn. of California and as a traffic commissioner for the city of Orange.
The Democrat, who’s making his first run for elected office, said his background as the son of Vietnamese refugees and as an Army veteran makes him a good fit for the district, which has the largest population of people of Vietnamese descent outside Vietnam.
Tran’s legislative priorities include protecting funding for Planned Parenthood and access to healthcare including birth control and cancer screenings. He supports protecting Social Security and Medicare.
