Hao Nguyen, a Ramsey County assistant prosecutor, has announced his candidacy to be the next Hennepin County attorney. In 2023, Nguyen told a legislative committee that he has a six-year-old transgender child.
A longtime state prosecutor, Nguyen is a graduate of the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul and previously served as a police officer. Since 2014, he has worked in the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.
“I am an experience prosecutor who believes in justice and fairness for everyone in our Hennepin County community,” says Nguyen on his campaign website. “I will hold violent offenders accountable for their actions, while uplighting [sic] the voices of victims.”
Nguyen is originally from Vietnam and came to the United States as a refugee when he was nine-years-old. He has described himself as a “child of public assistance and English as a Second Language.”
In January of 2023, Nguyen testified before a committee of the Minnesota Legislature in favor of HF 146, the so-called “trans refuge bill” which was ultimately passed into law.
During his testimony, Nguyen told legislators that he has a six-year-old transgender child. Further, Nguyen indicated that he began referring to his biological son as his “daughter” when the child was just three-years-old.
“Asher is six-years-old,” said Nguyen. “At three, she was not sleeping very well. She was waking up every single night, it was a lot more than just a toddler waking up. And one day I picked her up from daycare, and all the teachers had said ‘Asher told us that she’s a she.'”
“And I said to these wonderful daycare people who had never had a trans kid before at a pretty religious place, ‘So what’d you do?’ And they said ‘We called her a her,’ and I said ‘Great! Oh my God, great.’ And Asher comes around the corner and I said ‘Hey, there’s my beautiful daughter!'”
Nguyen said he would remember that moment for the rest of his life. The prosecutor went on to say that Minnesota is a state that supports refugees and encourages “wonderful love and openness.” He concluded his testimony by urging support for the trans refuge law.
Among other things, the trans refuge law makes it easier for inter-state child custody disputes to be decided in Minnesota if so-called “gender-affirming health care” is a factor in the case. Additionally, the law shields individuals from being subpoenaed or extradited for violating another state’s laws against “gender-affirming health care.”
Alpha News reached out to Nguyen for this story but did not hear back. Nguyen’s remarks were first reported by the social media account Leftists of MN.
Nguyen has been endorsed by Attorney General Keith Ellison, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt.
Earlier this year, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced she would not seek reelection in 2026. At present, the only other candidate in the race to succeed Moriarty is State Rep. Cedrick Frazier, a DFLer.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
