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How escaping Communist Vietnam shaped Arizona Rep. Quang Nguyen's politics

Republican Rep. Quang Nguyen escaped from Vietnam when he was 12 years old and says the experience of growing up under a Communist regime forever impacted him — including as a legislator. 

He’s not, in fact, the only lawmaker at the Arizona Capitol who grew up under Communism, Speaker of the House Ben Toma was born in Romania and immigrated to the U.S. with his family. 

Nguyen’s politics are reliably conservative but, he told The Show, always rooted in the goal of freedom.

The Show sat down with him recently in his office to hear his story — and how it’s shaped his political career.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.