The two cities that make up the heart of Little Saigon will now be led by Vietnamese Americans for the first time – after a razor-close municipal election in Garden Grove, California.

Bao Nguyen, 34, a Garden Grove school trustee, has beaten veteran politician Bruce Broadwater by just 15 votes to become mayor of the city with a population of more than 100,000 and the youngest mayor in the US.

In neighbouring Westminster, Mayor Tri Ta has been re-elected in a more decisive election.

Bao Nguyen

Together, they will be two of the most powerful voices in the nation's largest Vietnamese American community.

Nguyen, born in 1980 in a refugee camp in Thailand, has lived in the US since he was three months old. He has worked as a teacher since graduating from a California University in Irvine.

Nguyen, trilingual in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, says he plans to use those skills to help bridge divides among the city's diverse population.

"I am excited to begin the work of instituting common sense reforms and changing the culture at City Hall to be more transparent, efficient and inclusive."