EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — California may be a blue state in the presidential race, but voters here will likely decide which party controls the House of Representatives.

There are several competitive districts in Southern California, including District 45 in Orange County, which has the largest Vietnamese community of any district in the United States.

It’s a tight race between two Asian Americans - Korean born, GOP congressional representative Michelle Steel, and attorney and Army veteran Derek Tran who emphasized his Vietnamese background during a recent interview with “Inside the Issues” host Amrit Singh.

“I grew up as the son of refugees in an immigrant household. My parents worked really hard, and we were on government assistance until we were able to get off of it. But being on government assistance really made me realize how much I loved this country and that’s what propelled me to enlist in the military when I turned 18. It was just this sense of gratitude and wanting to give back to the country,” he said.

Tran says this run for Congress is another way to give back while also giving representation to the Vietnamese community and the rest of the 45th District.

The race in the 45th is one of the most expensive in terms of campaign ad spending in the nation, with both candidates accusing each other of red baiting. Mailers sent by Steel link Tran to Mao Zedong and socialism, while Tran’s ads say Steel can’t be trusted to “stand up to China.”

Tran calls Steel’s cultural inflammatory statements baseless.

“For her to red bait me and attack me as a communist, it’s a disgusting tactic, but it’s something that we see often from losing campaigns such as hers,” he said.

On the issue of reproductive rights, Tran criticized his opponent for signing on to the Life at Conception Bill saying, “For me, it’s about making sure that reproductive health care, abortion rights is something that we enshrine at the national level.”

For the record, Steel has rescinded her co-sponsorship of the Life at Conception Act saying she supports in vitro fertilization.

“Inside the Issues” has reached out to the Steel campaign and are hoping to have Rep. Steel on before the election.

Watch the full interview with Derek Tran by clicking the arrow in the video above.