Utah Legislature welcomes first Vietnamese American representative

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Legislature is about to have its first Vietnamese American representative.

Hoang Nguyen will represent District 23 along Salt Lake County’s affluent east bench.

Nguyen came to the United States as a refugee. She said Rep. Luz Escamilla is her role model and encouraged her to run for office.

“[Escamilla] has been able to pass over 130 bills as a Democrat, as a woman [and] as a woman of color, so it’s really inspirational,” she said. “With Utah changing, more representation matters. That’s one of the big reasons why I decided to run.”

Nguyen believes the state is at an inflection point and lawmakers need to find ways to manage growth and the cost of living. She also said they need to consider tax credits for working families.

She said her focuses are the environment, economic growth, and education. She also believes working families need higher-paying jobs that don’t rely on a college degree.

“Traditional four-year college is not right for them,” Nguyen said. “If they were to have more trade schools [and] more apprenticeship programs to get people coming out of schools ready to directly into trades that can pay very well.”

She is a managing partner of Sapa Investments which employs almost 500 people locally.

Tammy Kikuchi is a reporter and anchor for KSL NewsRadio. 

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