Quin Hillyer profiles congressional candidate Joseph Cao, who faces ‘Dollar Bill‘ Jefferson in a Louisiana runoff on December 6. Cao sounds like a singular person — a Vietnamese immigrant who fled to the United States before the fall of Saigon, eventually became a Jesuit novice, then elected to forego the priesthood in favor of the law and charity work. It’s hard to do justice to Cao’s biography in an excerpt, so I encourage you to read the whole piece. Cao eventually elected to run against scandal-tarred Bill Jefferson:
Cao is clearly an underdog, but at least one local analyst gives him an excellent chance. Jefferson prevailed in a December runoff in 2006 with 57 percent of the vote, a substantial drop from his prior re-election campaigns. Two years later, there are likely to be more Louisiana voters who are tired of the headlines about Jefferson’s ongoing corruption case. And this year, they have an alternative with a compelling contrast and personal background. Can an underdog like Cao win against an ethically-challenged Member of Congress who’s held his seat for ages? Ask Ted Stevens.
