Hornet Media and the Fullerton Observer interviewed Derek Tran, running for the U.S. House of Representatives District 45 , at a candidate forum at Fullerton College on Oct. 7, 2024. The Fullerton Observer reached out to all candidates running for this office for the opportunity to take part in a video interview at the forum and interviewed those who responded.
This video series is a joint production of the Fullerton Observer, a volunteer-run community newspaper, and Hornet Media, the student-run media outlets housed in the Fullerton College journalism program.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity but have not been independently fact-checked.
View live coverage of local elections returns on Nov. 5, 2024, at 7 p.m. on Hornet Media’s YouTube channel @fchornetmedia
Video Transcript:
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What are your top three priorities if elected?
Derek Tran
Just three? So I would say for my first priority, it deals with abortion rights, fundamental right of a woman to have health care access. The codification of Roe v Wade is very big in that my second priority deals with the economy. I think working class families are burdened by the rising costs in groceries. They don’t get enough help with child care. And my third priority would be housing. I think that’s an issue for a lot of the families out here, whether it be rent, being able to afford rent, or first time home buyers getting into their first home.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
Do you have any specific plans or policies to support those priorities?
Derek Tran
Yeah, I think for the first one, the codification of Roe v Wade is extremely important, since the Supreme Court made the decision in Dobbs to gut Roe v Wade and protect a woman’s right. This is something that we can easily remedy by having control of the House, the Senate, and a president that’s going to sign our bill to codify, you know, common sense legislation such as Roe v Wade the second one, when it comes to high, rising costs for working families. You know we need more bills like inflation reduction. We need to make sure that we cap inflation reduction, cap the insulin costs at $35 right? So that’s very important working class families, where we also control greedflation. So that’s the corporations that take advantage of consumers, just over billing them, overpricing them for a myriad of reasons, maybe one of them being there’s not enough competition out there, so we have to encourage competition and not allow companies to become monopolies. And the third with housing, I think there’s a lot of stuff that we can do with housing. One of them from the federal level, deals with making sure that we open more federal land so we can build on them. This is a key issue where we know that the population is growing and the people need a way to live, a place to live and affordable rent, or for first time, home buyers.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
Who is your most notable endorsement?
Derek Tran
I have endorsement from labors and unions working class families who belong to them. For example, the teachers union has endorsed me. SEIU has endorsed me. These are important endorsements, because these are the working class people out there. I would also add that I have I’m a veteran. So vote vets has endorsed my candidacy for Congress, and Planned Parenthood has endorsed me as well.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What would you do differently than the person currently in this position?
Derek Tran
I will represent my district. I will show up for my district. I think that’s something we’re not getting from the current representative. She has not shown up to anything. For example, today’s event, she’s not here. She’s putting out these baseless claims about me and my candidacy and my campaign, when she’s not here to defend any of those accusations. But the priority here is the people that we represent. You know, it’s important for us to when we represent our community, to sit down with our community, to find out what their priorities are, and then figure out how we’re going to address that together. That is something that the representative, Steele is not doing for her community at all. The other thing is, I’m going to promise the people that you know, it’s not about party politics. It’s about resources and opportunities for our district. You know, she, again and again, has voted party line to not bring resources and opportunities to our district. So when it comes to my representation, my priority will always be the people of my district.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What kind of help or resources can be provided for immigrants whose status in the U.S. is still being decided?
Derek Tran
Yeah, I think they’re one. We got to make sure that they understand, that they feel safe here, right, that there’s a pathway to citizenship. We need to do more for the dreamers, the dreamers out there, and for me, growing up in the immigrant family, my parents were refugees. You know, it’s hard. It’s hard for the family. It’s hard financially. And it’s hard to go to school as a son or daughter of immigrants, right? You want to make sure you’re you’re in a safe community, and that’s something where we can do more for the undocumented or those that are in this country that are seeking citizenship.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What specific policy do you propose to address the rising cost of housing and ensure affordable options for other students, seniors, low-income individuals?
Derek Tran
Yeah, I think there’s a strong prop on the ballot right now that kind of gives control to cities where they can put in place rent control, something we have to definitely look at, because, you know, each city will make the determination on whether or not rent control is needed for that population. So a city like Fullerton will have the power to pass laws to protect those that are living in their district, for students who can’t afford to pay rent, you can cap those, cap the rent, so they feel protected and they have a place to stay and live.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
Do you have any plans to help students struggle with student debt, especially in a time when the economy is not in their favor?
Derek Tran
Yeah, I think that is a big issue. I just recently, maybe, when I say recent, maybe within the last three, four years, paid off my student debt, right? I’m pretty old. I’m 40 something years old. That is a definite problem that we’re having with education in our country. We need, we need to make sure that bills and legislation like what President Biden has put in place to cut student loans, to reduce student loans, get actually approved and out there to the ones that need it the most, the students, right? Right? Now it’s being tied up because the courts, or this, the courts and those challenging it thinks it’s unconstitutional, right? But what’s unconstitutional and what hurts our our economy, is the fact that the students and the the young folks that are getting out of school, they’re getting out with this huge debt in their pocket, and they’re making they’re making money, and they’re in the working, they’re working just to pay off those student loans, and can’t afford anything. Can’t afford to save that’s a big issue that we have to continue making sure that we support is the Biden student loan forgiveness.