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Janet Nguyen sworn in as Orange County supervisor to fill seat left vacant by Andrew Do
Janet Nguyen, then a state Senate candidate, speaks at a rally for a fellow Republican candidate on April 2, 2022, in Newport Beach.
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Los Angeles Times
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State Sen. Janet Nguyen was sworn in as Orange County supervisor for the First District on Wednesday in a private ceremony with her family, a spokesperson said.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes swore her in after she won the seat vacated by disgraced former Supervisor Andrew Do. Nguyen comfortably beat her opponent, Cypress Councilmember Frances Marquez, after amassing more than 60% of the vote.
Nguyen’s term starts in early January. However, she was able to take office early because the Board of Supervisors accepted the results and declared her the winner earlier Wednesday. The ceremony was to fill the vacancy for the next three weeks before an official swearing in for her full term in January.
Do served in the seat for nearly a decade before recently resigning and agreeing to plead guilty to a scheme to steal millions of dollars that were supposed to feed needy seniors. Since November, LAist has reported how Do directed county contracts and millions of taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit, Viet America Society (VAS), linked to his daughter, Rhiannon Do. The money was meant to feed seniors during the pandemic and to build a Vietnam War memorial. But federal prosecutors say just 15% of the money earmarked for meals was actually used for that purpose.
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Nguyen previously told LAist voters chose her to clean up corruption in response to the Do scandal.
"[My lead in the count] shows that we have what voters wanted, and we have a plan. We're going to root out that corruption, and we're going to make sure that it's not going to happen again in Orange County," Nguyen said. "It's a new day in Orange County. It's a new day for the 1st District."
Nguyen’s swearing in comes a day after the Board of Supervisors voted to move ahead with hiring an outside firm to conduct a forensic audit of all contracts executed by the County Executive Office, Health Care Agency, OC Community Resources and Social Services Agency between January 2019 and August 2024. The audit was in response to the Do corruption scandal.
Nick Gerda contributed reporting.
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