That didn’t seem to bother the people lining up to shake Ly’s hand. His political rise has inspired many. His father was a veteran of the Hmong “secret army” that fought alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Like many of America’s allies, Ly’s parents were forced to flee a deadly communist vendetta that swept across Laos after 1975. Ly was born in a Thai refugee camp and arrived in the United States. when he was only four. He moved to the region for college, then got involved in community organizing and civil rights activism as a volunteer for Sacramento Area Congregations Together.

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