Amy Phan West, a Vietnamese immigrant running as a pro-Trump Republican in California, is on a mission to take on the far-left “Squad” in Congress.
Ms. West, whose family fled from Vietnam’s communist government in 1985, said she wants to use her life experience to fight the rise of left-wing ideology in national politics, particularly zeroing in on a small group of young Democratic lawmakers who she says advocate for socialism on Capitol Hill.
“I cannot wait to debate those girls,” Ms. West said, referring to the Squad, which includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
Ms. West is running in the June 7 primary seeking to challenge Democratic Rep. Katie Porter in an Orange County district. She is among several GOP immigrant candidates running on decidedly anti-socialist platforms.
In recent cycles, voters elected Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez of Florida, who was born in Cuba and has been a staunch advocate against socialism, as well as California Rep. Young Kim who was born in South Korea, and Rep. Victoria Spartz, Indiana Republican, who is from Ukraine.
Aleksander Mici, an Albanian immigrant, launched a bid to oust Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer last year, also hoping to fight socialism’s creep into U.S. politics.
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“It’s just so perfect that those who escaped from a socialist country come to this country because we understand what’s going on. We see the writing on the wall,” Ms. West said. “That’s why the American people are voting for people like that to defend their freedom. That’s why I feel like in this election we’ve seen a lot of immigrants rising up and running for office and I believe they will win.”
Ms. West is running on an “America First” agenda inspired by former President Donald Trump. She supports stronger border security, protecting gun rights, ending federal funding of Planned Parenthood, and reducing taxes and regulations.
She is one of four Republicans vying in the open primary. The other Republicans are Scott Baugh, former leader of the state Assembly, Brian Burley, who founded an information technology consulting company, and cinematographer Errol Webber.
The bid to flip Ms. Porter’s seat is an uphill battle, though redistricting has shifted the congresswoman’s constituency base to make the majority new voters.
Ms. Porter, a former law professor who was elected in 2018, handily won in the last two elections. She also serves as deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report lists the district as being D+3 in its Partisan Voting Index, which measures party strength.
California has a top-two primary, meaning the two candidates who receive the highest amount of votes will move on to the general election. Ms. Porter is also on the primary ballot and is considered a shoo-in to take one of the spots.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Ms. West’s age and the date of the primary.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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