Nguyen founded a restaurant, Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen in 2008. As of 2022, it was the longest-running storefront in South Waterfront, Portland.[2] He was elected to the Lake Oswego City Council in 2018, becoming the first person of color elected to the body.[3] He also served as a director of the Immigration Counseling Service Business for a Better Portland and co-chair of the PCC School of Business & Entrepreneurship advisory committee.
Nguyen won the Democratic nomination for House District 38 in the Oregon House of Representatives; he beat his primary opponent by just 28 votes.[4] He went on to defeat Republican opponent Alistair Firmin in the 2022 general election by a wide margin.[2]
Personal life
Nguyen was born to Vietnamese refugees who came to the United States in 1975 and settled in Camas, Washington, where Nguyen grew up.[3] The family moved to Lake Oswego in 2010.[3]
Committees
He serves as the Vice Chair of the House Committee on Economic Development and Small Business,[5] and the Joint Committee on Tax Expidentures,[6] and also the Joint Committee On Ways and Means, in the Subcommitee Public Safety.[7]