ORANGE, Calif. — Democratic Party of Orange County North Vice Chair Jeff LeTourneau announced today he has decided to step down from leadership in the Democratic Party. LeTourneau’s decision is in response to a Facebook post he shared on August 30th that called communist dictator Ho Chi Minh a “liberator.”
In the letter, Mr. LeTourneau stated,
“In the past days, the trauma that Ho Chi Minh’s dictatorship wrought on Vietnamese members of our community has been made abundantly clear to me. To the almost 35,000 Vietnamese members of the Democratic Party in Orange County, and to all Vietnamese members in our community, I apologize for sharing the post. I hope that my resignation from leadership positions in the Democratic Party would be a first step in healing and reconciliation for our communities.
It is my hope that Democrats across Orange County can unite behind our candidates and the values of the Democratic Party. We support working families, affordable housing, access to healthcare, and opportunity for all. We must support these values not only in the lead up to the upcoming election, but for years to come.”
Chair Ada Briceño accepted the resignation.
About the Democratic Party of Orange County
Orange County is rapidly shifting from a Republican stronghold into a highly diverse Democratic metropolis, where immigrants and refugees are taking leadership roles to advocate for issues that make a direct impact on daily life for Orange County residents.
Orange County Democrats are making headlines for standing up to Donald Trump’s hateful and divisive anti-Asian American rhetoric. Chair Ada Briceno, a refugee of civil war in Nicaragua, is the first immigrant to lead the Democratic Party of Orange County. The Democratic Party’s executive leadership team includes Vietnamese, Latino, millennial, and LGBT representation.
Democrats swept all seven Congressional seats in Orange County in 2018. Less than a year later, Democrats overtook countywide voter registration to become the region’s leading political party. Today, OC Democrats have gained more than a 2-point voter advantage over the GOP.
Orange County is America’s sixth largest county, with 3.2 million residents and more than 600,000 registered Democratic voters.
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Dear Central Committee members,
I, Jeff LeTourneau, hereby resign voluntarily from the following leadership positions, for the betterment of the Party and in reconciliation for harm unintentionally wrought on the Vietnamese community:
● North Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County
● Co-Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County Resolutions Committee
● Co-Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County Bylaws Committee
In the past days, the trauma that Ho Chi Minh’s dictatorship wrought on Vietnamese members of our community has been made abundantly clear to me. To the almost 35,000 Vietnamese members of the Democratic Party in Orange County, and to all Vietnamese members in our community, I apologize for sharing the post. I hope that my resignation from leadership positions in the Democratic Party would be a first step in healing and reconciliation for our communities.
It is my hope that Democrats across Orange County can unite behind our candidates and the values of the Democratic Party. We support working families, affordable housing, access to healthcare, and opportunity for all. We must support these values not only in the lead up to the upcoming election, but for years to come.
I hope to continually learn and work alongside this group of committed volunteers to create progressive change for all.
In unity,
Jeff LeTourneau
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