RATINGS CHANGE: Election Experts Shift CA-45 Towards Derek Tran

Inside Elections Changes Rating In Battleground District

Garden Grove, CA — Following the FBI Raid on Michelle Steel’s former colleague and longtime political ally Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do for the misappropriation of County funds that Steel oversaw and three public polls showing the corrupt Congresswoman in a dead heat with Democrat Derek Tran, election experts at Inside Elections have adjusted their ratings to reflect a more competitive contest. This shift acknowledges the escalating corruption scandals tarnishing Steel’s campaign and highlights Tran’s surging momentum.

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“45th District (western Orange County) Michelle Steel, are, re-elected 52%. Biden 52%. Polling shows this race even or with a slight advantage to Steele over attorney Derek Tran. Tran, whose parents fled Vietnam, may be benefiting from higher-than-normal support from Vietnamese-American voters, who make up a significant minority of the district and typically favor Republicans. GOP strategies are less concerned. Shift from Lean Republican to tilt Republican, in favor of Democrats.”

As a reminder, Michelle Steel’s personal involvement in Orange County corruption scandals runs deep, stemming back to her tenure on the Orange County Board of Supervisors alongside Andrew Do:

• Steel’s former college and endorser, Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do has been called to resign after the FBI raided the home of Do’s daughter—  reportedly linked to the controversial misallocation of millions of dollars in county funds to a nonprofit organization she led.   EDITOR’S NOTE: Rhiannon Do was a girl’s high schol basketball star at Beckman High School in Irvine, which is part of TUSD; she also interned for OCDA Todd Spitzer who is supposed to verify residency for candidates for public office; Supervisor Andrew Do appears to reside in North Tustin which is not part of his BoS district.  Lastly, I see him and his family at the Target in North Irvine often.
• Steel has a long, shady history of greenlighting sweetheart deals on land sales and airport contracts for private jet use beneficial to her wealthy campaign donors.
• In 2015, Steel opposed creating an Orange County campaign finance and ethics commission, calling the effort a “symbolic gesture,” and was the sole vote against putting the initiative on a ballot.
• In 2018, Steel voted to remove any independent oversight of Orange County Supervisors’ actions, county finances, and the practices of the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office.
• In 2020, while she was running for Congress and still serving on the OC Board of Supervisors, Steel was “called out” for accepting campaign contributions from a private jet company that was bidding for a long-term contract at John Wayne Airport.
• In 2022, the Orange County Grand Jury found that Michelle Steel tried to direct the sale of public land to a wealthy campaign donor, and detailed her damning involvement in the effort.
• In Congress, Steel voted against legislation to help America compete with Chinese manufacturing – while her husband notoriously toured known Chinese Communist Party agents around an invitation-only meeting with Republican leaders.

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Army Veteran Derek Tran is a DCCC Red To Blue candidate running in California’s 45th Congressional District which encompasses portions of Orange and Los Angeles Counties in Southern California. A majority-minority district, the District has the second largest AAPI population (36.97%) of any Congressional District, and the largest Vietnamese community in the country.  President Biden won the current district lines by +6 points and it has a +6 point Democratic registration advantage. It includes all or part of the Cities of Garden Grove, Westminster, Cerritos, Buena Park, Placentia, Hawaiian Gardens, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Artesia, Los Alamitos, La Palma, Brea, Lakewood, and Fullerton, as well as the unincorporated community of Rossmoor.

Use of Derek Tran’s military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Dept. of Defense or U.S. Army.