Vietnamese Republican Wins NO Seat

By Keith Gaddie ~ If you want to see a sign that things are turning in the South, look to Louisiana.

The New Orleans-based 2d congressional district turned out long-time incumbent Democrat Bill Jefferson and replaced him with the first Vietnamese congressman in the US, Ahn “Joseph” Cao.

Cao is a 41-year-old Republican attorney who emigrated to the US as a boat person in 1975 (his father was in a North Vietnamese prison).

He went to college, and law school, and practices immigration law.

He beat Bill Jefferson in a low-turnout general election (delayed because of hurricanes this summer) to become the first Republican to represent New Orleans in congress since Reconstruction.

Why did Cao win? First, the collapse of the central city political machines (the progressive Democrats, SOUL, BOLD, and LIFE) under the weight of corruption charges, and an unwillingness of black voters to come vote for a terribly tainted brand.

Jefferson had substantial patronage, but he had done so little to bring relief support to New Orleans.

Another Democrat will rise to challenge in this majority-black district, but for the short-term Louisiana has given America another first.

Contributor Keith Gaddie is a nationally-recognized pollster, pundit and author who is a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma.

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