Voters across the country are fed up—not with politics in theory, but with a system that feels increasingly incapable of doing the basics well.

Public safety feels weaker. Costs keep climbing. Government programs grow, but results don’t.

That frustration is exactly what pushed Chuong Vo, a 28-year law enforcement veteran and former mayor, into the race for California’s 45th Congressional District. Vo didn’t plan on running for Congress. He planned on retiring, spending time with his son, and stepping away from public life.

Instead, as crime rose and politics grew more detached from reality, friends and community leaders urged him to step up.

On Breaking Battlegrounds, Vo explained why he answered that call—and why he believes Washington desperately needs leaders who solve problems instead of chasing slogans.

What Law Enforcement Teaches You About Government

Vo’s career in law enforcement shaped his view of leadership in a way few politicians can claim.

“When you’re a police officer,” Vo explained, “you don’t have the luxury of buzzwords or bandwagons. You have to solve the problem—right then and there.”

That mindset, he says, is largely missing in today’s political class. Too often, elected officials rely on catchphrases and talking points rather than practical solutions that actually work on the ground.

As a mayor, Vo carried that same approach into public policy—especially on public safety, community services, and budgeting. The lesson was simple: results matter more than rhetoric.

When Government Stops Working for Taxpayers

Host Chuck Warren pushed back on the media’s tendency to label voter frustration as “populism.”

“It’s not populism,” Warren said. “People just want the damn thing to work again.”

Vo agreed—and pointed to his time as mayor of Cerritos as proof that government failure isn’t inevitable.

In 2020, the city proposed a new sales tax increase, warning residents that bankruptcy was looming without it. Vo opposed the tax. Along with two other conservative candidates, he won his council race—and the dire predictions never came true.

Instead, something unexpected happened.

Balancing the Budget Without Raising Taxes

For the next five years, Cerritos:

  • Balanced its budget

  • Implemented new programs

  • Hired additional staff

  • Avoided raising taxes

How? By actually reading the budget.

Vo and his colleagues reviewed expenditures line by line, reused existing resources, and focused on efficiency rather than defaulting to higher taxes.

“Government wastes money too easily,” Vo said. “The solution isn’t always taxing people more. It’s making the money we already have work better for the people.”

That experience convinced Vo that Washington’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of funding—it’s a lack of discipline and accountability.

Why He’s Taking This Fight to Congress

Vo believes Congress needs leaders who understand consequences, budgets, and real-world problem solving—not just ideology.

His pitch to voters is straightforward:

  • Bring common sense back to government

  • Focus on outcomes, not slogans

  • Respect taxpayers by using existing resources wisely

  • Restore trust by making government actually function again

In a political environment defined by division and dysfunction, Chuong Vo is betting that voters are ready for something radical: competence.

Transcript

Chuck Warren: Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds. I’m your host, Chuck Warren, Sam Stone. My co-host is out with the flu today. We’re honored to have with us, our next guest, Chuong Vo. He is a candidate for U.S. Congress and California’s CD45. He’s a husband. He’s a former mayor. He’s a 28-year law enforcement officer. He was planning to retire, spend more time with his son. But since then, basically, crime has risen, costs have climbed, politics has gotten meaner, and he’s been asked by friends and community leaders to step up and run for Congress. So he has decided to be a glutton for punishment and enter the political arena. Chuong, welcome to the show.

Chuong Vo: Thank you, Chuck, and thank you for having me. I appreciate your time.

Chuck Warren: Oh, my pleasure. Let’s first start with this. You were a 28-year law enforcement officer, you were a former mayor. What did both those jobs teach you about what needs a change in government or what can we do better with it?

Chuong Vo: Well one of the biggest things that I think that my background brings you that government needs that bring back on them approach again uh... it’s know it’s really difficult when you’re sitting next to your colleague and also looking for politics in general that they tend to use catchphrases and like to jump on the bandwagon type of things than approaching problems with real common sense solutions. And as a Police officer you know that my background is one of those were I have no choice but to solve the problem right then and there.

And to bring out solutions that no one can think about out of the box, you know? And so, and as mayor, I implemented that in regards to public safety, community service, and just public policy. And I got experience from that as a role as mayor too. So I’m gonna bring that to Congress. I think common sense approach resolution is something we’re missing. And I’m gonna bring that to the table.

Chuck Warren: I agree with you on the common sense. For example, you often hear the media describes Trump’s brand of politics and base as populist. I don’t believe it’s populist by any definition. I believe it’s just people saying, I want the damn thing to work again. I don’t feel anything in government works. And I bet you saw that as a mayor. Do you have some examples when you’re mayor of certain government entities that just didn’t work and they weren’t benefiting the taxpayer?

Chuong Vo: Well, you know, it’s interesting you say that because I actually think today government is actually working more for the people than ever because of the policies that are being implemented by the administration in DC. And as mayor, one of the things that I was missing when I ran for office is truly how staff and how city government implements the funding that was received by the government entity. So quickly, do we always resort to taxing people?

And taking that money and spending more on programs or projects that isn’t necessary. So one of the things I did as mayor and council member in city of Cerritos is that we looked at the budget book every single year. And interestingly enough, the year that I ran for council in 2020, the city also proposed a sales tax measure on the ballot, which I opposed and I did not support. And when I spoke to the city manager and staff at the time, they’re telling me the city of Cerritos would go bankrupt in a few years if we don’t have the sales tax measure.

And then myself and two other colleagues of mine that ran on a conservative ticket, all three of us won. And for the next five years, we were able to balance the budget. We’re looking at budget. Not just, we didn’t just cut programs. We actually implemented new programs and also hired new staff. But we reused the resources with the funding that we had in place to make it work. And the reason why I say that is because you have to work to make sure that we can balance the budget.

So easy is it just attacks people more and to give us more money so we can just spend more instead of looking at the money that we have and how we can implement that to make things work better for our folks and our constituents. And so that’s one of the things that I’ve noticed in government is that we tend to waste money so often and so easy.

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