Derek Tran
DIncumbentFEC H4CA45170
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Raised this cycle$6.0M
Cash on hand: $2.7M
2026 race
CA-45 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Derek Tran.
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See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
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How we got here · 1 earlier contest
Primary · Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Top-two primary — Derek Tran and Chuong V. Vo advanced to the general election.
- DDerek Tran· inc.Advanced to general47.6%
- RChuong V. VoAdvanced to general15.8%
- RChi Charlie NguyenDefeated13.2%
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the California Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$9.5M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Michelle Steel
RChallengerFEC H0CA48198
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Raised this cycle$1.3M
Cash on hand: $0
Chuong V. Vo
RChallengerFEC H6CA45191
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Raised this cycle$937K
Cash on hand: $175K
Thomas Ky-Phong Vo
RChallengerFEC H6CA45209
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Raised this cycle$757K
Cash on hand: $0
Chi Charlie Nguyen
RChallengerFEC H6CA45167
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Raised this cycle$485K
Cash on hand: $0
Amy Phan West
RChallengerFEC H6CA45183
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Raised this cycle$60K
Cash on hand: $0
Mark Andrew Leonard
RChallengerFEC H6CA45159
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Raised this cycle$26K
Cash on hand: $17K
Local signal
Early read on CA-45 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · leans positive
Recent news coverage of Derek Tran over the last 90 days.
1 positive5 neutral0 negative
6 articles · AI-assessed sentiment toward the rep. A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$9.5M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$9.5M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$17K
$7K for · $11K against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Derek Tran(D)incumbent + ORANGE COUNTY PAC $6K + GIVEGREEN UNITED ACTION $669 + INDIGO PAC $317 − THE CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DBA AMERICANS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY $5K | $6.0M | $7K | $5K | $6.0M |
Michelle Steel(R) − HEALTH CARE SAVES LIVES $6K | $1.3M | — | $6K | $1.2M |
Chuong V. Vo(R) | $937K | — | — | $937K |
Thomas Ky-Phong Vo(R) | $757K | — | — | $757K |
Chi Charlie Nguyen(R) | $485K | — | — | $485K |
Amy Phan West(R) | $60K | — | — | $60K |
Mark Andrew Leonard(R) | $26K | — | — | $26K |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside CA versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Derek Tran(D)58% in-state · $3.1M itemized
$1.8M in-state$1.3M out-of-state
Michelle Steel(R)27% in-state · $51K itemized
$14K in-state$37K out-of-state
Chuong V. Vo(R)87% in-state · $332K itemized
$287K in-state$45K out-of-state
Thomas Ky-Phong Vo(R)86% in-state · $29K itemized
$25K in-state$4K out-of-state
Chi Charlie Nguyen(R)92% in-state · $461K itemized
$424K in-state$37K out-of-state
Amy Phan West(R)67% in-state · $46K itemized
$31K in-state$15K out-of-state
Mark Andrew Leonard(R)33% in-state · $10K itemized
$3K in-state$7K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Where they stand
Issue-by-issue comparison
Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.
| Statement | Tran | Steel | Vo | Ky-phong vo | Nguyen | Phan west | Leonard | You |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Criminal Justice The federal government should send more money to local police departments. | — | |||||||
Social Security Future workers should have to wait longer to collect full Social Security. | — | |||||||
Abortion A national law should protect access to abortion in every state. | — | |||||||
Abortion Tax dollars should not pay for abortions. | — | |||||||
Abortion Access to contraception should be guaranteed by federal law in all states (Right to Contraception Act). | — | |||||||
Digital Assets Cryptocurrency exchanges and tokens should be regulated under a dedicated digital-asset framework rather than existing securities law (CLARITY Act-style). | — | |||||||
Economy The federal minimum wage should be raised. | — | |||||||
Economy Reducing the national debt should be a higher priority than new spending. | — | |||||||
Education Parents should be able to use public funds — through vouchers — to send their kids to private or charter schools. | — | |||||||
Education Federal Title IX protections should explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity. | — | |||||||
Environment Government environmental reviews for energy and infrastructure projects should move faster, even if it means fewer reviews. | — | |||||||
Foreign Policy Conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel — tied to humanitarian or human-rights compliance — should be strengthened. | — | |||||||
Foreign Policy Congress should explicitly authorize U.S. military defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. | — | |||||||
Guns All gun sales — including private ones — should require a background check. | — | |||||||
Guns Civilian ownership of AR-15-style rifles should be restricted. | — | |||||||
Healthcare Medicare should be allowed to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. | — | |||||||
Healthcare States, not the federal government, should decide who gets Medicaid and what it covers. | — | |||||||
Immigration People who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children should have a path to citizenship. | — | |||||||
Immigration The U.S. should do more to enforce immigration laws and secure the border. | — | |||||||
Immigration The U.S. should allow more legal immigration each year. | — | |||||||
Governance & Other Outside political spending — from PACs and super PACs — should be limited more strictly. | — | |||||||
Social Security Workers should be able to invest part of their Social Security in the stock market. | — | |||||||
Taxes People making over $400,000 a year should pay higher taxes. | — | |||||||
Trade U.S. trade policy should reduce economic interdependence with China, especially on technology and critical minerals. | — |
SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.