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City of Garden Grove · Statewide General Election

Garden Grove City Council, District 3

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds your district's seat on Garden Grove's 6-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected Mayor and an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. Not all six council districts are elected the same year -- only Districts 1, 3, and 4 have terms expiring in 2026. A 4-year term.

Incumbent Cindy Ngoc Tran is running for a second term against Amanda Nguyen and Thomas Quoc Thai Nguyen. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 3's seat on Garden Grove's 6-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected Mayor and an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. Not all six council districts are elected the same year -- only Districts 1, 3, and 4 have terms expiring in 2026. A 4-year term.

Tran, a U.S. Navy veteran and Boeing engineer first elected in 2022, is seeking re-election on a record centered on neighborhood safety, parks, and small-business support. Amanda Nguyen, a senior paralegal in the Orange County public-defense system, campaigns on similar ground -- safety, crisis response, the local economy, and affordability -- and has picked up endorsements from Congressman Derek Tran and the Democratic Party of Orange County. No comparable platform information was found for Thomas Quoc Thai Nguyen despite a real search effort.

Cindy Ngoc Tran

Born in Vietnam and a Garden Grove resident since 2009, Tran served five years of active-duty U.S. Navy service before joining Boeing, where she worked on the Delta IV Heavy rocket program and was recognized as Young Engineer of the Year on Boeing's Young Engineering Team. She holds master's degrees in Software Engineering and System Architecture Engineering. She has held extensive volunteer leadership roles, including school principal at Our Lady of La Vang Church, vice chairman of the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California, and chairman of both the Overseas Vietnamese Women's Association and the Society of Women Engineers. Elected to the council in 2022, her stated priority is "enhancing the quality-of-life in the community by ensuring neighborhood safety, improving parks and recreation, and promoting support for local small businesses."

Strengths

A technical engineering career (rocket-program work at Boeing) paired with military service and extensive nonprofit and cultural-community leadership roles.

Trade-offs

Only one term (since 2022) of council experience by the time voters decide this race.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for her campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Amanda Nguyen

A Senior Paralegal with the Orange County Alternate Defender with nearly a decade of experience in the county's criminal justice system, working closely with attorneys, investigators, and clients on complex legal matters and post-conviction relief. She also mentors students interested in law and public service. Her campaign centers on four priorities: safe and clean neighborhoods, compassionate crisis response, a thriving local economy, and an affordable Garden Grove. "Effective local government starts with accountability, thoughtful decision-making, and understanding how policies affect people's everyday lives," she says. Her endorsements include Congressman Derek Tran (CA-45), former Mayor Pro Tem Thu-Ha Nguyen, City Council Member Ariana Arestegui, and the Democratic Party of Orange County.

Strengths

Near-decade experience inside the county's criminal-justice system, plus endorsements from a sitting member of Congress and a sitting Garden Grove councilmember.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; her day job (public defense) gives her a specific lens on crisis response and safety that may not translate evenly to budget or land-use questions.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for her campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Thomas Quoc Thai Nguyen

Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Media Businessman." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing his background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort (search engines, Ballotpedia, Voice of OC's own site search, and a direct guess at a campaign-site domain, which did not resolve).

Strengths

A media/business background suggests possible communications or entrepreneurial experience relevant to local economic issues.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of his priorities beyond his listed occupation.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Amanda Nguyen's own campaign site ("Amanda Nguyen for Garden Grove City Council District 3"): her own framing of her candidacy (Senior Paralegal, OC Alternate Defender), platform, and endorsements -- including naming Thu-Ha Nguyen as a "former Mayor Pro Tem" may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Garden Grove section (pages 94-99 of 188): confirms Mayor (2 qualified candidates), City Council District 1 (3), District 3 (3), and District 4 (4) as the city's four November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, with incumbent flags and every candidate's filed ballot designation
  • ggcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Garden Grove -- Election Information page: confirms the same four offices up in the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election ("Mayor at Large; Council District 1; Council District 3; and Council District 4") and links the city's own candidate list and incumbency-information documents
  • ggcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Garden Grove -- 2026 Official Candidate List (the city clerk's own spreadsheet-to-PDF): every candidate's name, filing dates, ballot designation, and contact email/phone for all 12 candidates across the four contests -- independently matches the county's Proof List exactly
  • ggcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Garden Grove -- City Council page: the full sitting 7-member roster (Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein; George S. Brietigam III, Mayor Pro Tem/District 1; Phillip Nguyen, District 2; Cindy Ngoc Tran, District 3; Joe DoVinh, District 4; Yesenia Munoz-Munoz, District 5; Ariana Arestegui, District 6) -- confirms which three districts (1, 3, 4) have terms expiring in 2026 and that District 1's incumbent, Brietigam, is not among the three qualified 2026 candidates for his own seat
  • ggcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Garden Grove -- official biography for Councilmember Cindy Ngoc Tran (District 3): born in Vietnam, Garden Grove resident since 2009, elected to the council in 2022, U.S. Navy veteran and Boeing rocket-program engineer, extensive Vietnamese-American community leadership roles
  • vote4amandanguyen.com (opens in a new tab)Amanda Nguyen's own campaign site ("Amanda Nguyen for Garden Grove City Council District 3"): her own framing of her candidacy (Senior Paralegal, OC Alternate Defender), platform, and endorsements -- including naming Thu-Ha Nguyen as a "former Mayor Pro Tem," the only independently-found biographical detail about the Mayor's-race challenger in this pass

Last updated August 31, 2026.