# Garden Grove City Council, District 4 Compare records and positions simply between Joe DoVinh, Hieu Nguyen, Patrick Phat Bui, and 1 more for Garden Grove City Council, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Garden Grove's six-member City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Garden Grove also has a citywide-elected Mayor. An appointed city manager runs daily operations. Not all six council districts are elected the same year. Only Districts 1, 3, and 4 have terms expiring in 2026. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Garden Grove - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/garden-grove-council-4 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: October 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Joe DoVinh** — Garden Grove Council Member · Incumbent - **Hieu Nguyen** — Social Worker/Businessman - **Patrick Phat Bui** — Businessowner/Nonprofit Chairman - **Amanda Mohr** — Student/Astrophysicist A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Joe DoVinh is running for a second term against Hieu Nguyen, Patrick Phat Bui, and Amanda Mohr. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff. This person holds District 4's seat on Garden Grove's 6-member City Council. They vote on 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. The term is four years. DoVinh, an attorney and former city planning commissioner first elected in 2022, is seeking re-election. Hieu Nguyen, a licensed clinical social worker and public-health leader who grew up in the district on public assistance, campaigns on affordability, city services, and infrastructure, with endorsements from Congressman Derek Tran and State Senator Tom Umberg. No comparable platform information was found for Patrick Phat Bui or Amanda Mohr despite a real search effort. ## Joe DoVinh Evacuated from central Vietnam in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon as part of the initial refugee wave, DoVinh's family was processed through Camp Pendleton before being sponsored to Washington state, where he grew up. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Washington and a Juris Doctor from Pacific Coast University, College of Law. He is a certified court interpreter for Washington state and federal courts, co-owns "The Business and Law Center," and works as a real-estate developer (broker and general contractor). He previously served as a Garden Grove planning commissioner (2012-2013) before his 2022 council election, and is married to former Garden Grove City Council Member Dina L. Nguyen. He has been a Garden Grove resident since 2000. **Strengths:** A legal and real-estate development background paired with prior planning-commission service gives him direct exposure to land-use questions before his council tenure even began. **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 his campaign in this pass -- see Financial info. ## Hieu Nguyen Born in Vietnam, Nguyen immigrated to the U.S. in 1993 and grew up in a working-class Garden Grove household that received Section 8 housing, SNAP, and Medi-Cal assistance, attending Garden Grove public schools and working in local restaurants and garment shops as a teenager. The first in their family to earn a master's degree, they are a licensed clinical social worker with more than 17 years of public health leadership experience, a small-business owner, and a community organizer. In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe leading large county initiatives, directing major investments to expand access to care, and working directly with people experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges and substance use. They are raising their family in the same Garden Grove neighborhood where they grew up, alongside their husband. Their three stated priorities are strengthening city services and resources; making the city more affordable to live in; and increasing access to safe, open spaces for residents. In the same questionnaire Nguyen ties them to more parks and open space for children and families and expanded housing opportunities. On Flock cameras Nguyen says local police should focus on safety rather than AI surveillance that tracks individuals, voices serious concerns about collecting data on residents who do not want to be monitored, and would not support any system that targets marginalized groups. **Strengths:** By their own account, 17 years in public health, including leading county initiatives, plus lived experience with safety-net programs such as Section 8, SNAP and Medi-Cal. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office; their professional background is public health and social work rather than land use, budgeting, or planning. **Keep in mind:** Their record leading county initiatives and directing investments in care is their own account, and the scale of that work is not independently confirmed. See Financial info. ## Patrick Phat Bui Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Businessowner/Nonprofit Chairman." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their 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 combined business-ownership and nonprofit-leadership background suggests some organizational and fiscal management experience. **Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of their priorities beyond their listed occupation. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info. ## Amanda Mohr Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Student/Astrophysicist." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort. **Strengths:** A scientific/technical academic background, distinct from the other candidates' professional profiles in this race. **Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass; their own ballot designation lists them as the only student in the field. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info. ## Review notes - Hieu Nguyen's own campaign site ("Hieu Nguyen for Garden Grove City Council"): his own framing of his District 4 candidacy, background (licensed clinical social worker, small-business owner), and platform may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [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](https://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/data/candlog/GEN2026/candlog.pdf) 2. [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](https://ggcity.org/election-information) 3. [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](https://ggcity.org/sites/default/files/official-candidate-list-2026.pdf) 4. [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](https://ggcity.org/city-council) 5. [City of Garden Grove -- official biography for Councilmember Joe DoVinh (District 4, elected 2022): evacuated from Vietnam in 1975, attorney and certified court interpreter, real-estate developer, prior Garden Grove planning commissioner (2012-2013)](https://ggcity.org/city-council/joe-dovinh) 6. [Hieu Nguyen's own campaign site ("Hieu Nguyen for Garden Grove City Council"): his own framing of his District 4 candidacy, background (licensed clinical social worker, small-business owner), and platform](https://hieu4gardengrove.com) 7. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Garden Grove City Council Member, District 4' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- If elected, what are your top 3 priorities?; What background, experience and/or education qualify you for this elected office?; What is your position on the use of Flock cameras or similar devices? Answers on file from Hieu Nguyen. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/garden-grove-council-4.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot Garden Grove City Council, District 4 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Garden Grove City Council, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/garden-grove-council-4 (sources last retrieved October 7, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.