Stephanie Nguyen vs. Vinaya Singh for CA Assembly District 10: Candidates answer key questions
This November, Assemblywoman Stephanie Nguyen, a Democrat, seeks reelection to a second term of office. Standing in her way is Republican Vinaya Singh.
Nguyen’s district, Assembly District 10, extends from southern Sacramento down to Elk Grove.
Singh faces a difficult election against a firmly entrenched incumbent; in the March primary, Nguyen received 67.6% of the vote, while Singh received 32.4%.
Stephanie Nguyen
Political Party: Democratic
Age: 45
Birthplace: Opelousas, Louisiana
Current town of residence: Elk Grove
Current occupation: Assemblywoman
Education: California State University Sacramento, bachelor of arts in political science
Offices held: California Assembly, 2022 to present; Elk Grove City Council, 2017 to 2022; Elk Grove vice mayor, 2020
Campaign website address: www.stephanienguyenforassembly.com
What would be your budget priorities for the upcoming budget year?
My budget priorities include protecting essential services like public safety, expanding healthcare access, and investing in mental health services. I will focus on supporting small businesses, increasing funding for law enforcement, and continuing to advocate for local infrastructure projects that stimulate job growth and economic recovery. Fiscal responsibility and maintaining critical programs for Sacramento’s families are paramount.
What do you think the Legislature should do to address the state’s ongoing homelessness crisis?
The Legislature must expand mental health and substance abuse programs, and support Governor Gavin Newsom’s Care Court. We need statewide policy to reduce red tape and lower the cost of building affordable housing, which can range from $500,000 to $700,000 per unit in Sacramento. Streamlining the approval process and providing funding for supportive services are critical for solving homelessness and creating sustainable housing solutions.
How should the Legislature respond to concerns about retail theft and fentanyl and drug overdoses?
Retail theft and fentanyl are tearing our communities apart. I proudly supported Governor Newsom’s retail theft package, which increases penalties for serial offenders. We must take a harder stance on fentanyl, with tougher penalties for those who peddle this deadly drug. Fentanyl is a public safety crisis, and we need to hold traffickers accountable while ensuring law enforcement has the tools to prosecute offenders and protect our families.
Vinaya Singh
Political Party: Republican
Age: 57
Birthplace: India
Current town of residence: Sacramento
Current occupation: Retired
Education: Bachelor’s of science, master’s of science, PhD (subjects and schools not disclosed)
Offices held: N/A
Campaign website address: https://drsinghforassembly.com/
What would be your budget priorities for the upcoming budget year?
My first priority is to fix the corrupt democracy. As you know, the problem in democracy is that:
Democracy = Elections
Elections = Huge amount of Money to waste
Huge amount of Money to waste = Earn through Corruption
Therefore, Democracy = Corruption
An average $50 per voter is needed to reach a voter with one’s vision, campaign materials and knocking door-to-door, and to surely win an assembly election, minimum $3.5 millions is needed to make sure one should reach at least a winning number of 70,000 voters. And this investment is a waste of money and no way this money can be recovered.
What do you think the Legislature should do to address the state’s ongoing homelessness crisis?
The reason behind crime and homelessness is a failed education system and the Legislature should fix the failed education system. Due to an inefficient education system, about 400,000 dropouts are struggling to become part of the workforce every year. Most of these dropouts land into crime and homelessness. For each dropout, the government spends $500,000 for his/her lifetime. $200 billion is spent on various welfare programs to take care of these dropouts. I have proposed an AI-based K-12 education management system to help to reduce 75% of dropouts and save $150 billion of wasted money.
How should the Legislature respond to concerns about retail theft and fentanyl and drug overdoses?
Most of the dropouts basically land into mental health issues and high-risk behaviors such as alcoholism, drug addiction, early pregnancy, and crime. The solution for this is to manage the dropouts and develop partnership with the health and jail management system.