First Asian American elected to lead
Sacramento County DA’s office

A Vietnamese immigrant was confirmed as the 5th Asian American ever elected in the U.S. to lead a District Attorney’s Office, according to NewsShark. 

Thien Ho took office as Sacramento County’s 36th DA. Superior Court Judge Carlton David conducted the swearing-in ceremony. 

“When you have the symbol of Lady Justice, on the one hand she has a sword, which represents accountability; the other hand is a scale that represents fairness, equality and balance,” Ho said. 

He won the support of over 50% of the county voters, compared to former prosecutor Alana Mathews, who had less than 45%, NewsShark reports. 

Ho previously worked in Sacramento County DA’s office for 18 years, and prosecuted the Golden State Killer, one of California’s most-publicized criminal cases. 

A wall in the office displays 35 photographs of each of Sacramento’s previous district attorneys, along with some lawyers, prosecutors and judges, but none of them look like Ho, said NewsShark. 

Ho plans to create a consultative council from the Asian, Latino, Black and LBGT communities. He expressed his awareness of distrust among these communities when it comes to the DA’s Office and policing. 

“Out of 2,400 elected DAs in the country, I’ll be the fifth Asian American. But more than that, what is important is making sure that we represent all communities, and that’s what we need in our criminal justice system,” said Ho. 

Jim Cooper took office as the first Black Sheriff of Sacramento County in December, just one month before Ho was elected.