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At a far lower decibel range than most of Super Tuesday's primary battles, a former New Orleans congressman made an announcement few would find surprising. Joseph Cao is running for the U.S. Senate. Cao's official entrance into the race dovetails neatly with the sentiments of a private holiday email he sent to family and friends in December. "Sen. (David) Vitter will not be running for re-election, so this is a great opportunity to have a Vietnamese-American/Asian-American voice in the U.S. Senate," Cao wrote.

Donald Trump's rally at Lakefront Airport Friday (March 4) doesn't have everyone in New Orleans singing a happy tune. The music magazine Offbeat reports that a group of local musicians plan to protest Trump over his promises to deport 11 million undocumented workers and ban Muslims from traveling to the United States, among other policy proposals, by conducting a second line parade at the airport's entrance. Trump is due in New Orleans to attempt to drum up support before Louisiana's March 5 presidential primary on Saturday....

This newspaper makes the following recommendations for Tuesday's ballot. CONGRESS U.S. Senate David Vitter Much of Sen. Vitter's first term in the Senate came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches that left 80 percent of New Orleans under water. The senator fought hard to hold the Army Corps of Engineers accountable and to get recovery resources for South Louisiana, including vital funding for coastal restoration. He was a leader in the push to finally close the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, the corps-built waterway that contributed to the devastation during Katrina. He also played an important role in...

Conventional wisdome suggests Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) is the most vulnerable GOPer in Congress, seeking re-election in a heavily African-American district in which any scandal-free Dem should easily top half the vote. But conventional wisdom has been wrong before, and a new poll for Cao's campaign hopes to prove it wrong again. Cao led state Rep. Cedric Richmond (D) by a 51%-26% margin, according to a survey conducted May 27-June 2 by LA pollster Verne Kennedy. Cao leads Richmond by a 67%-13% margin among white voters, and by a narrower 39%-36% margin among African American voters. That African American vote...

As the oil executives testified at a House hearing, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) said: "In the Asian culture, we do things differently. During the samurai days, we'd just give you a knife, and ask you to commit hari-kari."

Members of Congress chastised the largest oil companies Tuesday, accusing them of being no better prepared than BP to avert an environmental catastrophe. As the oil executives testified at a House hearing, Rep. Joseph Cao said: "In the Asian culture, we do things differently," Cao said. "During the samurai days, we'd just give you a knife, and ask you to commit hari-kari." As the oil executives testified at a House hearing, Rep. Henry Waxman asserted that the companies' spill response plans amounted to "paper exercises" that mirrored BP's failed plan. Their strategies to plug a spill deep beneath the sea...

The question of whether Congress should repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and allow openly gay soldiers to serve likely will be a divisive issue in the fall elections, but not in the 2nd Congressional District. Incumbent Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, and his expected Democratic challengers state Reps. Cedric Richmond and Juan LaFonta expressed support Wednesday for President Barack Obama's call to change the policy, a move that also has been endorsed by top military officials. "When the military hierarchy supports it, I defer to the people who do it for a living and have the...

New Orleans Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao supported President Barack Obama more often than any of his fellow House Republicans in 2009. The statistic isn't surprising given that Cao, who defeated embattled incumbent Rep. William Jefferson in December 2008, represents one of the nation's most heavily Democratic districts and faces a strong challenge as he seeks a second term this fall. According to a report by Congressional Quarterly, Cao supported Obama's position 68 percent of the time last year, including casting the only GOP vote for the Democrats' health-care legislation. On average, House Republicans supported the president only 26 percent of...

My office sent this press release earlier in the week. You are invited to attend my town hall on Chinese drywall. See details below! Also, let me know how you think I'm doing. Take my 1-question survey here. ---Congressman Cao -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 9, 2009 ***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Cao to Host Town Hall on Chinese Drywall Washington, DC - Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao (LA-2) will conduct a public town hall and briefing about Chinese drywall for Louisiana residents whose homes were rebuilt with this tainted material. The event will be held on Monday, December 14, 2009 from 9:00am - 11:00am CST at...

Here is video of MSNBC's Ed Schultz interviewing Louisiana Rep. Joseph Cao, the only Republican to vote for the House Health Care Bill. Schultz asked Cao "do you think you went with the majority in your district?" Cao answered "absolutely my district is 75% democrat, 64% minority, and we have a very poor population." Cao called his vote "a vote of conscience, a vote to serve the needs of my people down here in this district." Cao said that he has had some fundraisers canceled on him and some donors have requested their money back. Schultz asked him "is this...

Conservatives need to take a deep breath, relax, and stop bashing Joseph Cao. The man never claimed to be a fully committed economic conservative. He represents a district that is about 75 percent Democrat and 62 percent black (or thereabouts). He SAID ALL ALONG, FOR MONTHS, that he would probably vote for health care reform if it included strong pro-life language such as the Stupak Amendment. He stuck to his guns, even though his district is not majority pro-life. He is a traditionalist Catholic, former Jesuit seminarian, and he stands up for the principles he holds dear, one of which...

Contact information: Washington, D.C. Office: 2113 Rayburn House Office Building, District of Columbia 20515-1802 Phone: (202) 225-6636 Fax: (202) 225-1988 New Orleans Office: (more district offices) 4640 South Carrollton Avenue, Suite 120 New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 Phone: (504) 483-2325 Fax: (504) 483-7944 New Orleans Office: 4640 South Carrollton Avenue, Suite 120 New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 Phone: (504) 483-2325Fax: (504) 483-7944 web contact formIt would be appropriate to let him know how much we appreciate his vote. Not for the value of the vote, but because he gave the Dhims cover to say that it was "bipartisan."

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a massive overhaul of the American health care system Saturday night by a vote of 220 to 215. One Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, crossed the aisle, while 39 Democrats joined the Republicans in opposing the measure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called passage of the bill "an historic moment for our nation and for America's families," while Republicans warned that the bill will raise taxes, increase insurance premiums and make cuts to Medicare. An enormous round of applause broke out throughout the House chamber when the crucial 218th vote was cast to...

THE REPUBLICAN THAT VOTED WITH OBAMA-PELOSI-REID AND THE REST OF THE DEMOCRAT COMMUNIST PARTY * Posted by gary on November 8, 2009 at 1:44am in General, Uncategorized Town Hall * Add as Friend View Discussions JUST LIKE COMMUNIST VIETNAM HE CAST HIS VOTE WITH THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST A Prized Republican on the Ropes Joseph Cao was hailed six months ago as the future of the GOP. Yesterday, he voted to rebuke Joe Wilson. Can the most endangered Republican in the House survive? By Benjamin Sarlin. As he made his way to the podium to give his health-care speech last Wednesday—a...

WASHINGTON -- The day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to quit bickering and enact health-care reform, Republicans on Capitol Hill said his trillion-dollar plan would be enacted on the back of Medicare recipients and sound the death knell of Medicare Advantage. "That program will be killed off," Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, one of three doctors in the Louisiana delegation, said on the House floor Thursday. Medicare Advantage is an option utilized by one in five Medicare beneficiaries. More than 145,000 Louisianians are enrolled in the program, which provides additional benefits, from glasses and hearing aids to preventive care services,...

U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao faced a tough crowd at the Westwego Community Center on Tuesday night, with skeptics of President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul the health care system cheering for the least amount of government involvement in the health insurance sector. Cao, R-New Orleans, spent the first 20 minutes of the hourlong town hall forum explaining the basics of the various bills, trying to dispel confusion and anger about "death panels," mandated health plans and other issues that have been raised at similar town hall meetings across the country. "It is controversial because right now, with respect to...

In a public forum defined as much by passionate declarations on abortion as by statements about health care policy intricacies, U.S. Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said Thursday that he "leans" toward supporting the House Democrats' vision of a medical system overhaul provided it won't pay for procedures to end pregnancy. "The word is 'leaning,' " he repeated to about 150 people gathered at an Irish Channel Neighborhood Association meeting, the first of four planned public forums for Cao during the August recess. Besides the abortion caveat, Cao further tempered his statement with his concerns about how major policy...

WASHINGTON -- Anh "Joseph" Cao beat long odds when he defeated Rep. William Jefferson to win a seat in Congress. His bid to join the Congressional Black Caucus might be even more difficult. -snip-Since its founding in 1971 by 13 black members of Congress, the caucus has never had a member who was not African-American. And the caucus has had only one Republican member -- Gary Franks, a former representative from Connecticut -- and that ended in acrimony. Another former black Republican in Congress, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, chose not to join the caucus.-snip-"If the purpose of the caucus is...

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,...

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...