{{Short description|American politician (born 1936)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Tony Lam | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_upright = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1936|10|04}} | birth_place = Haiphong, French Indochina | occupation = Politician | party = Republican | spouse = Hop Lam | children = 6 | office = Member of the Westminster City Council | term_start = 1992 | term_end = 2002 }}
'''Tony Lam''' (born October 4, 1936) is a Vietnamese American politician. He served three terms as a member of the Westminster, California City Council from 1992 to 2002. Lam was the first Vietnamese American to be elected to political office in the United States.<ref name="Mydans 1992"/><ref name="Do 2025"/><ref name="Galicza 2025"/>
Born and raised in Northern Vietnam, he later moved to South Vietnam after 1954 before ultimately settling in Little Saigon, Orange County after the fall of Saigon. An owner of three restaurants, including Viễn Đông, Lam served as a local community leader before later being elected to city council.
==Biography== ===Early life=== Lam was born on October 4, 1936 in Haiphong, Northern Vietnam.<ref name="Nakanishi 2002">{{cite book |last1=Nakanishi |first1=Don T. |author-link1=Don Nakanishi |title=Distinguished Asian American Political and Governmental Leaders |last2=Wu |first2=Ellen D. |date=November 30, 2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=1573563250 |location=Westport, Connecticut |pages=92–95 |lccn=2002016957 |ol=5955735W}}</ref> After Vietnam was partitioned in 1954, Lam moved to South Vietnam.<ref name="Mydans 1992">{{cite news |last=Mydans |first=Seth |date=November 16, 1992 |title=A Vietnamese-American Becomes a Political First |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/16/us/a-vietnamese-american-becomes-a-political-first.html |work=The New York Times |page=11}}</ref><ref name="Do 2025">{{cite web |last=Do |first=Anh |date=April 29, 2025 |title=Tony Lam was an original influencer in Little Saigon |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-29/tony-lam-was-an-original-influener-in-little-saigon-and-he-still-is-test |access-date=January 7, 2026 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> He learned English while serving in the Vietnamese navy.<ref name="Do 2025"/><ref name="Nakanishi 2002"/> Lam worked for the USAID, and later worked as an industrialist, owning construction and processing plants.<ref name="Tran 2002">{{cite web |last=Tran |first=Mai |date=2002-08-09 |title=Westminster's Lam to Retire From Politics |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-09-me-lam9-story.html |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> At the age of 28, with his older sibling, Dean, Lam managed Lam Brothers Corp, an independent contractor for the military at Cam Ranh Bay.<ref name="Do 2025"/>
===Emigration to the United States=== Shortly before the fall of Saigon, Lam spent three months in Guam with his wife and six children, before later being transferred to Camp Pendleton.<ref name="Mydans 1992"/><ref name="Do 2025"/> After initially being resettled in Florida, Lam later moved to Huntington Beach, California.<ref name="Do 2025"/><ref name="Nakanishi 2002"/> In the US, Lam initially worked as a service station attendant for ten days, before becoming a supervisor for a shipping company, insurance salesman, immigration consultant, and an advertising executive.<ref name="Mydans 1992"/> Lam and his family purchased their first home in Westminster in 1978. In 1982, Lam became a US citizen.<ref name="Nakanishi 2002"/>
Lam established a life insurance agency and an business importing and exporting goods.<ref name="Do 2025"/> In 1984, he opened Viễn Đông, a Vietnamese restaurant in Garden Grove,<ref name="Do 2025"/> which was later sold and closed in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kelsen |first=David |date=July 19, 2016 |title=Vien Dong, Historic Little Saigon Restaurant, Closes |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/vien-dong-historic-little-saigon-restaurant-closes-7351334/ |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=OC Weekly}}</ref> By 1992, he owned three Vietnamese restaurants in Little Saigon, Orange County.<ref name="Mydans 1992"/><ref name="Tran 2002"/>
==Politics== In 1982, Lam helped start the Tet Festival in Westminster, California.<ref name="Galicza 2025"/> In 1985, Lam organized a fundraiser for the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. A community leader, he was one of the founders of the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce (VACOC) and the Vietnamese American Lions Club in Westminster. As a law and order conservative, Lam later joined the Republican Party.<ref name="Do 2025"/> As of 2002, he served as a trustee of the Orange County Community Council and Humana Hospital and was the president of the Orange County VACOC.<ref name="Tran 2002"/>
In 1989, Lam was appointed to serve on the city of Westminster's traffic commission.<ref name="Do 2025"/>
===Westminster City Council=== In 1989, Lam worked with others to host a parade dedicated to honoring the South Vietnamese Armed Forces. Westminster City Council member Frank Fry responded, "If you want to be South Vietnamese, go back to South Vietnam." Insulted, Lam ran for city council in response.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mouchard |first=Andre |date=2025-04-28 |title=Little Saigon stands on shoulders of early leaders |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2025/04/28/little-saigon-stands-on-shoulders-of-early-leaders/ |access-date=January 7, 2026 |website=The Orange County Register}}</ref><ref name="Galicza 2025">{{cite web |last=Galicza |first=Natalia |date=2025-03-14 |title=Saigon has not fallen |url=https://www.deseret.com/the-west/2025/03/13/little-saigon-california-history-and-future/ |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=Deseret News}}</ref>
In 1992, Lam was elected to Westminster City Council with the motto "Tax Fighter, Crime Fighter", becoming the first Vietnamese American to be elected to political office.<ref name="Do 2025"/><ref name="Mydans 1992"/><ref name="Galicza 2025"/> He has been praised for uniting Westminster's Vietnamese population with its other groups.<ref name="Tran 2002"/> He has also been credited with assisting in persuading the state of California in placing Little Saigon freeway signs.<ref name="Tran 2002"/> Lam helped Vietnamese Americans become registered voters and for their children to be registered for schools.<ref name="Galicza 2025"/> He also found black antique French streetlights to line the streets of Little Saigon, Orange County, similar to South Vietnam.<ref name="Galicza 2025"/>
Lam ran for office again in 1994 and 1998, ultimately serving a total of three terms over the span of ten years.<ref name="Galicza 2025"/>
In January 1999, the Hi-Tek incident occurred; Truong Van Tran placed the communist flag and a photo of Ho Chi Minh in his video store, leading to community protests. Westminster officials and the city attorney told him to avoid participating in the protests since neutrality was required to avoid legal action.<ref name="Do 2025"/><ref name="y296">{{cite web |last=Sanchez |first=Rene |title=Days of Rage in Little Saigon |website=The Washington Post |date=1999-03-05 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/03/05/days-of-rage-in-little-saigon/873ae936-4132-496d-857b-3cff1a094e16/ |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref> As a result, his restaurant was picketed for 73 days.<ref name="Do 2025"/><ref name="Galicza 2025"/>
On August 8, 2002, Lam announced his retirement from politics and that he will not seek a fourth term.<ref name="Tran 2002"/>
==Personal life== In 1960 or 1961, Lam married his wife, Hop Lam.<ref name="Do 2025"/> As of 2002, they had six children and nine grandchildren.<ref name="Tran 2002"/>
==Legacy== thumb|Entrance sign to Tony Lam Park In 2022, Park West Park in Westminster was renamed to Tony Lam Park.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brazil |first=Ben |date=2022-05-10 |title=Westminster park renamed after first Vietnamese American elected to public office |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-09/westminster-park-renamed-after-first-vietnamese-american-elected-to-public-office |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510033455/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-09/westminster-park-renamed-after-first-vietnamese-american-elected-to-public-office |archive-date=2022-05-10 |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
==Electoral history== {{Election box begin no party no change|title=1992 Westminster, California city council election<ref>{{cite news |title=Final Orange County Election Returns, Municipal Races, Westminster, 1992 |work=Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=November 5, 1992 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-final-orange-count/188571003/ |access-date=January 10, 2026}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Tony Lam |votes = 6,687 |percentage = 30.8 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Margie L. Rice |votes = 6,644 |percentage = 30.6 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Loretta A. Walker |votes = 4,602 |percentage = 21.2 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Helena Rutkowski |votes = 1,681 |percentage = 7.7 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Jimmy Tong Nguyen |votes = 1393 |percentage = 6.4 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Norman S. Lawson |votes = 733 |percentage = 3.4 }} {{Election box total no party no change |votes = 21,740 |percentage = 100.0 }} {{Election box end}}
{{referendum results | caption = 1994 Westminster, California city council recall election | for = 4340 | against = 8137 | turnout = | source = ''Los Angeles Times''<ref>{{cite news |title=Final California Election Returns, Orange, Westminster |work=Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=June 9, 1994 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-final-california-e/188572640/ |access-date=January 10, 2026}}</ref> }}
{{Election box begin no party no change|title=1994 Westminster, California city council election<ref>{{cite news |title=Final Orange County Election Returns, Municipal Offices, Westminster |work=Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=November 10, 1994 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-final-orange-count/188572534/ |access-date=January 10, 2026}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Margie L. Rice |votes = 9,974 |percentage = 36.1 }} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Tony Lam |votes = 8,984 |percentage = 32.5 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Craig Schweisinger |votes = 8,703 |percentage = 31.4 }} {{Election box total no party no change |votes = 27,661 |percentage = 100.0 }} {{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no party no change|title=1998 Westminster, California city council election<ref>{{cite web |title=1998 City Offices and Ballot Measures |website=Secretary of State of California |page=69 |url=https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/county-city-school-district-election-results/city_report_1998.pdf#page=59 <!-- From https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/county-city-school-district-ballot-measure-election-results, 1998, City (PDF) --> |access-date=January 10, 2026}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Margie L. Rice |votes = 6,943 |percentage = 22.0 }} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Tony Lam |votes = 5,978 |percentage = 19.0 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Kermit Marsh |votes = 5,481 |percentage = 17.4 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Helena Rutkowski |votes = 3,608 |percentage = 11.4 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Robert Crossley |votes = 3,518 |percentage = 11.2 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Duoc Tan Nguyen |votes = 2,602 |percentage = 8.3 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Garth Murrin |votes = 1,862 |percentage = 5.9 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Dancharles Maka'ena |votes = 1,538 |percentage = 4.9 }} {{Election box total no party no change |votes = 31,530 |percentage = 100.0 }} {{Election box end}}
==See also== * Joseph Cao, first Vietnamese American to serve in Congress * Jacqueline Nguyen, first Vietnamese American federal judge
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Tony}} Category:1937 births Category:Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Category:Living people Category:People from Westminster, California Category:California politicians of Vietnamese descent Category:American city council members of Vietnamese descent