Largely unknown Cao thrust into La. spotlight

NEW ORLEANS

The first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress doesn’t have a long list of policy beliefs. Aside from one major issue, Republican moderate Anh “Joseph” Cao says he’s open on everything else.

“The only thing I am certain of is that I am anti-abortion,” Mr. Cao said Sunday morning after defeating Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson in a race that marked a major shift in New Orleans politics by ending a 30-year stand for Mr. Jefferson, dogged by corruption allegations.

The victory for the immigration lawyer who is the child of Vietnam War refugees was greeted with amazement and drew parallels to last year’s election of Gov. Bobby Jindal, an Indian-American Republican, also in Louisiana.

It also confirms a general shift to the Republican Party in Louisiana, where the Democratic Party dominated for generations and no Republican had represented New Orleans since 1890.

“This is kind of uncharted waters here,” said Larry Powell, a Tulane University historian.

Mr. Cao, 41, was buoyed by low turnout, a lackluster campaign by Mr. Jefferson, strong third-party candidates and the election being postponed a month by Hurricane Gustav. State and national Republicans seized on the race with a well-funded and effective campaign, bombarding targeted neighborhoods with automated telephone calls, signs and flyers.

Mr. Jefferson faced some of the most direct attacks since 2005, when a wide-reaching corruption probe against him was made public and FBI agents found $90,000 in purported bribe payments in his freezer. He faces trial on charges of money laundering, racketeering and bribery, but no date has been set.

In conceding the race, Mr. Jefferson blamed fatigue among his supporters. “I think people just ran out of gas a bit,” he said Saturday night.

In many ways, Mr. Cao won on a protest vote by white voters from both major parties indignant about Mr. Jefferson’s staying power. Analysts said white voters turned out by a ratio of 2-to-1 over blacks.

Mr. Cao’s win was viewed as improbable and important for the Asian communities of eastern New Orleans and the West Bank, a series of suburbs across the Mississippi River from the city.

“It’s a David and Goliath story,” said Joel Waltzer, a lawyer who’s worked for 20 years representing Vietnamese homeowners and fishermen in eastern New Orleans. Before starting his own law practice, Mr. Cao worked for Mr. Waltzer.

Katrina made Mr. Cao’s win possible, Mr. Waltzer said.

“Before Katrina, they were an ignored constituency, and now they are strong enough to elect their own congressman,” Mr. Waltzer said.

The community, made up of war refugees from Southeast Asia who came here in the 1970s, has gained in strength since Katrina and it is widely viewed as a rebuilding model.

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