Democrat Derek Tran ousts Michelle Steel in CA House battle

Derek Tran, a first-time Democratic candidate, has flipped a toss-up California House seat, narrowly defeating GOP Rep. Michelle Steel, who conceded on Wednesday after a protracted vote count.

Tran had declared victory early this week, and currently leads by roughly 600 votes.

Steel, a two-term congressmember, had been an elusive target for Democrats, occupying an Orange County district that had backed President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The race ended up being the most expensive House battle in the country, with at least $46 million spent by the campaigns and an array of outside groups.

Democrats hoped Tran was the right candidate to dislodge Steel, given his background as the son of Vietnamese refugees. Tran sought to use his biography to make inroads with the district’s influential Asian American — and particularly Vietnamese — voters, a group that Steel, a Korean American, had performed well with in the past.

Tran centered his campaign on assailing the incumbent Republican for her previous support for a national abortion ban. Steel countered with attacks on Tran’s pre-campaign resume, including a handful of cases where he represented politically unsympathetic clients in wrongful termination lawsuits.