72nd District Primary Election Field: Assemblyman Tyler Diep (R-Westminster), former Senator Janet Nguyen (R-Fountain Valley), Councilwoman Deidre Nguyen (D-Garden Grove), and Bijan Mohseni (D-Los Alamitos)

The hotly contested primary in the 72nd Assembly District has exceeded $1.6 million in spending.  Between their campaigns and independent expenditures, $1.5 million has been spent on the battle between Assemblyman Tyler Diep (R-Westminster) and former Senator Janet Nguyen (R-Fountain Valley).  Councilwoman Diedre Nguyen (D-Garden Grove) spent $151,243, a rather significant sum for the Assembly primary but is dwarfed by the spending on the contest between Diep and Janet Nguyen.  However, with Bijan Mohseni (D-Los Alamitos) spending only $3,734, it is quite likely Diedre Nguyen comes in first place, with either Diep or Janet Nguyen coming in second in order to advance with her to the general election to set up the traditional Republican vs. Democrat general election in the seat.

Diep has spent $374,333 while Janet Nguyen has spent $268,401, for a combined total of $642,734.  However, independent expenditures have reached $871,834, meaning the expenditures involving these two candidates has reached $1,514,568.  No independent expenditures have been reported for either Diedre Nguyen or Mohseni.

Pro-Diep IEs spent $307,288.  Anti-Diep IEs spent $386,440.  Pro-Janet Nguyen IEs spent $136,457. Anti-Janet Nguyen IEs spent $41,649.  In other words, Pro-Diep/Anti-Janet Nguyen IEs spent a total of $348,938 while Pro-Janet Nguyen/Anti-Diep IEs spent a total of $522,896.

Between the campaigns and IEs, the Pro-Janet Nguyen/Anti-Diep side has spent $791,297 while the Pro-Diep/Anti-Janet Nguyen side has spent $723,271.

The biggest single source of IEs was Californians for Independent Work (sponsored by Lyft), which spent $249,803 against Diep.  Over $200,000 of those IEs has been spent on mailers, cable television, and digital advertising.  The remainder went to polling and consultants.

The biggest single source of pro-Diep IEs was $158,664 spent by California Labor and Business Alliance (sponsored by Building Trades, Correctional Peace Officers and Apartment Rental Organizations, and Energy Providers).  That committee’s four largest donors are Chevron, the California Apartment Association, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), and the State Building and Construction Trades Council.  Over $133,000 of those IEs have been spent on mailers.  The remainder went to polling and consultants.

All of the anti-Janet Nguyen IEs were $41,649 spent by the Coalition to Restore Republican Accountability & Ethics Opposing Nguyen for Assembly 2020.  That group received 98.9% of its funding from Parents for Safe Communities, whose four largest donors are Local Union 105 Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation Workers, the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, Lee’s Sandwiches, and Huntington Beach resident Hoi Quoc Doan.  The entire expenditure was for mailers.  (Correction: While a substantial sum of its funding came from Parents for Safe Communities, this group also received significant funding from the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and the California Cardroom Alliance.)

All of the pro-Janet Nguyen IEs were $136,457 spent by Taxpayers for Ethical Government.  The bulk of that committee’s 2020 funds come from billionaire Kieu Hoang, the country’s wealthiest Vietnamese-American.  $135,000 of that was spent on field operations.

For visual learners, here’s a table of the IEs:

Here’s the campaign finance chart for the candidate’s campaigns:

(Cue my usual Nguyen disclaimer: Former Senator Janet Nguyen and Garden Grove Councilwoman Diedre Nguyen are not related to each other, and neither of them are related to me. The last name Nguyen is held by 36% of Vietnamese people.)