Derek Tran Flips California's 45th District, Unseats GOP's Steel
Democrat Derek Tran has won the election for the U.S. House seat in California's 45th Congressional District, defeating incumbent Republican Michelle Steel. Tran, a U.S. Army veteran and son of Vietnamese refugees, will be the first Vietnamese American to represent the district, which is centered in Orange County. The race was one of the last to be called, with Tran taking the lead 11 days post-election as mail ballots were counted. Steel had previously flipped the seat in 2020.