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Anh "Joseph" Cao - the hot new property in Congress, Mr. Upset, the first Vietnamese American elected to the U.S. House or Senate, the first Republican to win Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District since before Louis Armstrong was born - is driving across this Gothic American bayou. He's relating how, as a Jesuit seminarian in the slums of Mexico nearly 20 years ago, he experienced a crisis of faith. He was dispirited by how God could let such human misery exist, he says and then stops himself. "Do you ever read Kierkegaard?" he asks. Um, the 19th century Danish philosopher is...

Abandoned by their government, many residents of New Orleans have little optimism about the arrival of Barack Obama in the White House on 20 January Jonny Trask - pictured outside his family's home - is disillusioned by the way he and others have been treated Jonny Trask is black, in his forties, American, and completely indifferent to Barack Obama. "It doesn't make any difference to me," he says referring to the next president. "Or to most of the black people in New Orleans." Trask, a former gang member who has served time both in the military and in prison ("Jail...

Politics: The election of a Republican as the first-ever Vietnamese-American congressman is not an "odd news" item. Joseph Cao represents the future of the GOP — if it wants success.The latest Republican standard-bearer was a Navy pilot who was tortured as a POW in North Vietnam. How ironic that in the wake of John McCain's loss, the most exciting victory for Republicans is that of one of the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese boat people who fled their country's communist regime. Anh "Joseph" Quang Cao over the weekend won Louisiana's gerrymandered 2nd Congressional District over Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who...

The Jesuits Produce A Great Political Candidate by Deal W. Hudson 11/19/08 Joseph Cao is a Catholic lawyer and former Jesuit scholastic from New Orleans. He is running as a Republican for the Congressional 2nd district seat in Louisiana presently held by Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), who is best known for the $90,000 found in his freezer. The election will be held December 6. Few candidates for public office are as forthright as Cao when asked about their position on abortion. “I am very anti-abortion,” he told me without hesitation. Cao would like to overturn Roe, but in the meantime,...

NEW ORLEANS -- Voters in Louisiana ousted indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson on Saturday, instead electing a Republican attorney who will be the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. Unofficial results showed Anh "Joseph" Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to take the seat from the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office. Cao, 41, won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS -- Voters in Louisiana sent two Republicans to Congress Saturday, ousting indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in one race and narrowly keeping a seat vacated by a retiring incumbent in the other. In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao won 50% of the vote to Rep. Jefferson's 47% and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state legislature.

In a shocker, there will be a GOP Rep. in New Orleans. In a surprising twist, GOPers won a sweep in LA tonight in two general elections, picking up embattled Rep. Bill Jefferson's (D-LA 02) seat in New Orleans, and holding retiring Rep. Jim McCrery's (R) seat in the Shreveport-based Fourth District. But the surprise of the night, and possibly the cycle, was in the Big Easy. Atty Ahn “Joseph” Cao (R) defeated Jefferson 50-47%. Dems outnumber GOPers here 6-1, and African Americans make up 61% of the vote. But the NRCC must've had an inkling that something was up...

LA-2 , Orleans, Jefferson Parish: In a huge upset win, little known Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao beat nine term and criminally indicted William Jefferson(D). Jefferson had been expected to easily win. Cao becomes the first Vietnamese member of U.S. Congress. LA-4, Shreveport-Bossier City, Sabine Parish, et. al., Western LA, TX/AR border: Republican Dr. John Fleming wins. Fleming was trailing by about 3% early in the election results but came on strong in the end to beat Carmouche(D) by 356 votes. Carmouche has not conceded election – recount probably pending. With these results, the 111th U.S. House of Representatives...

Democrats took aim at a reliably Republican congressional seat Saturday night as Paul Carmouche narrowly led Republican John Fleming in the hotly contested 4th Congressional District race. With 63 percent of precincts reporting, Carmouche had 50 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Fleming. Two independent candidates had the rest of the vote. The winner succeeds Republican Congressman Jim McCrery, who decided not to seek re-election after 20 years in the House of Representatives. Carmouche is retiring after being district attorney in Caddo Parish for 30 years. Fleming is a Minden physician and businessman.

44,141 47.69% Paul J. Carmouche, D - 44,497 48.07% John Fleming, R

In a campaign that drew heavy spending by both national parties, Republican John Fleming appears to have staved off a vigorous challenge from Democrat Paul Carmouche to keep Louisiana's 4th district seat in GOP hands Saturday.

Sit down and make yourself comfortable, because this one of those stories you just won't want to miss. It's the kind of story for which this poor pen might not do justice. And it's the kind of story of which the world of politics needs more examples. It's a story that effectively starts three days before the fall of Saigon in 1975, when eight-year-old Joseph Cao escaped South Vietnam with a brother and sister and eventually made his way to the United States, where he settled with an uncle. As the story continues today, Cao is the Republican nominee for...

Unofficial results showed Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to get rid of the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office. Cao won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans. He will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. He came to the U.S. as a child after the fall of Saigon in 1975. He went on to earn degrees in philosophy, physics and law.

In a stunning upset, Republican Ahn “Joseph” Cao, a Vietnamese immigrant with no political experience, has defeated Democratic incumbent William Jefferson for the U.S. House of Representative’s seat of the 2nd District of Lousiana. Ahn Joseph Cao Ahn “Joseph” Cao will represent the 2nd District of Lousiana in the new Congressional term after defeating William Jefferson. Cao, an immigration attorney, is a newcomer to politics and will be the first person of Vietnamese descent to become a representative in Congress. His opponent William Jefferson was plagued by allegations of corruption throughout his campaign and is currently facing federal indictments related...

Political newcomer Anh "Joseph" Cao, a Republican, holds an early lead over nine-term incumbent William Jefferson, a Democrat, in the 2nd Congressional District. With 139 of 492 precincts reporting around 9:15 p.m., Cao, a Venetian Isles attorney who has enjoyed strong backing from local and national GOP organizations, is leading 58 percent to 39 percent over Jefferson. Green Party candidate Malik Rahim has 2 percent, while Libertarian Gregory Kahn is trailing with 1 percent. The district, which was drawn to give African Americans an electoral advantage, covers most of New Orleans, most of Jefferson Parish's West Bank and parts of...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- President-elect Barack Obama and Gov. Bobby Jindal entered opposing sides of a bitter Louisiana congressional race, appearing in advertisements in support of their parties' contenders while the candidates readied for their only debate on Tuesday night. The president-elect lent his voice to a radio ad praising a fellow Democrat, saying "To change America, and to get Louisiana's economy back on track, I need leaders like Paul Carmouche working with me in Washington." The governor appeared in a television ad in support of fellow Republican John Fleming. The ads first aired on Monday, the day before Jindal...

Sentencing postponed for Congressman Bill Jefferson's sister by The Associated Press Wednesday August 27, 2008, 8:38 AM **SNIP** Brenda Jefferson, the youngest sister of Bill Jefferson, pleaded guilty in June to helping three of her relatives conceal an alleged scheme to pocket more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon agreed to reschedule Brenda Jefferson's sentencing from September 24 to February 11. She pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. Prosecutors said they need more time to evaluate her cooperation in the case against her sister, New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson;...

2theadvocate.com is biased but the fact remains

Former Caddo Parish District Attorney Paul Carmouche and Minden Doctor John Fleming have advanced to the runoff election for Louisiana's 4th Congressional District. Carmouche won the Democratic Party Primary runoff over challenger Attorney Willie Banks with 62 percent of the vote in complete but unofficial results. The republican runoff race between Fleming and Businessman Chris Gorman was filled with negative advertising and accusations of false claims against each other. Fleming topped Gorman with 56 percent of the vote. While the federal elections have ended for most of the country, Carmouche and Gorman have another month of campaigning ahead of them....

NEW POLL NUMBERS IN U.S. SENATE RACE SHOW "TIED BALL GAME" **EXCLUSIVE** 10/30/2008 01:04 PM THE DEAD PELICAN HAS OBTAINED THE FOLLOWING DETAILS ABOUT THE U.S. SENATE RACE! POLLSTER: ONMESSAGE, INC. METHODOLOGY: 900 STATEWIDE LIKELY VOTERS; IF THE ELECTION FOR U.S. SENATE WERE HELD TODAY AND THE CANDIDATES WERE MARY LANDRIEU, THE DEMOCRAT AND JOHN KENNEDY, THE REPUBLICAN FOR WHOM WOULD YOU VOTE? LANDRIEU 45, KENNEDY 44, UNDECIDED/OTHER 11 DEVELOPING...