Sacramento DA Thien Ho announces bid for open 6th Congressional seat

After one term as Sacramento County’s top prosecutor, District Attorney Thien Ho is running for California’s 6th Congressional District, which currently does not have an incumbent running after voters redrew the state’s congressional map earlier this month.

Ho’s family fled Vietnam and came to the United States when he was a young child, a backstory that features prominently in his decision to run for the congressional seat.

“We escaped a dictatorship,” he said in an interview Monday, ahead of his campaign launch, “and I never thought I’d see the rise of a dictator here. Frankly, it’s time for us to stand up to wannabe dictators like Donald Trump.”

That message is the first thing Ho, a Democrat, addresses in a video announcing his campaign, which bounces between historical footage of war-torn Vietnam and present-day confrontations between civilians and federal immigration agents and members of the National Guard.

“Turning the military against your own citizens,” Ho says in a voiceover. “Pulling people out of cars and schools, making dissidents disappear. No judge, no jury. Just fear.”

Ho said his “number one” priority in Congress would be “to defend democracy” but he was quick to add public safety and affordability as other priorities, noting that his family relied on food stamps after arriving in the United States.

“I want to fight to make California more affordable, lowering taxes for working families, reducing health care costs that have skyrocketed because of the big, bad billionaire bill, which is what I’m calling it,” he said in reference to the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” signed by President Trump earlier this year.

Ho was elected DA in 2022 after leading the prosecution against Joseph DeAngelo, also known as the Golden State Killer, as a deputy district attorney. DeAngelo pleaded guilty in 2020 to 13 slayings and kidnappings and confessed to numerous other rapes and burglaries.

The 52-year-old prosecutor details his perspective on the case, interwoven with his personal story, in a new book called “The People vs. The Golden State Killer.”

Asked why he opted to run for the U.S. House instead of seeking reelection as DA, Ho said he sees the congressional seat as an opportunity to continue “fighting for the voiceless, the vulnerable and the victims.”

“I’m running for Congress to defend our public safety and our freedoms … because every family deserves to live in a community where justice is real and the American Dream is still within reach,” he said.

From refugee to high-profile prosecutor

Ho said after escaping Vietnam in a fishing boat, his family ran out of gas, food and water. They “were drifting on the ocean until we were rescued and brought to this country,” he said.

He didn’t know any English and learned through “watching Bugs Bunny cartoons” before eventually going to law school and becoming a prosecutor.

As a refugee, Ho said “I’ve always felt that I needed to earn that second chance. This country – and California – is my second chance in protecting people.”

California’s redrawn 6th District

Ho is the latest Democrat to get into the race following incumbent Rep. Ami Bera’s announcement that he would run in the 3rd District. Bera made the switch after the passage of Proposition 50, a redistricting measure that redrew California’s congressional map to benefit Democrats.

Sacramento Planned Parenthood leader Lauren Babb Tomlinson launched a campaign on Monday and former state Sen. Richard Pan is also running for the seat after initially announcing for the 3rd District. Other candidates include Democrats Tyler Vandenberg, a Marine Corps veteran, and Kindra Pring, as well as Republicans Christine Bish, Craig DeLuz and Raymond Riehle.

The district includes West Sacramento, Natomas and East Sacramento, as well as Citrus Heights, Roseville and Rocklin.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Roseville, is one of the five GOP congressmen targeted by Prop. 50 and has said he is still considering which new district he will run in.

Ho enters the race with endorsements from a handful of local leaders including Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove.

McCarty in a statement praised the DA for “his dedication, integrity, and results-driven leadership. He understands what it takes to deliver real results — not empty political rhetoric — for our families and stand up to Trump and MAGA extremists.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.