Joseph Cao

He is the first Republican to serve in his district since 1890.

He defeated a congressman who had been indicted.

His district has historically voted overwhelmingly Democratic, based on two different ethnic majorities during this period.

Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao (Cao Quang Ánh; born March 13, 1967) is a Vietnamese–American politician who was the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2011.

A member of the Republican Party, he is the first Vietnamese American and first native of Vietnam to serve in Congress.

Ánh Quang Cao was born in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1967 as the fifth of eight children to My Quang Cao (1930–2010), a lieutenant in the South Vietnamese Army and Khang Thi Tran (born 1935).

He was captured by the North Vietnamese Army in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War.

His mother did not immediately flee South Vietnam, but sent Anh Cao and two siblings to escape with their uncle.

She stayed in the country with five of Cao's siblings.

She was allowed to visit her husband only five times during the seven years he was imprisoned in a Communist "re-education camp".

In 1975 Anh Cao was eight years old when he, his siblings and his uncle arrived as refugees in the United States, where they were resettled in Houston, Texas.

After being released in 1982 from prison camp, Cao's father joined his family in Houston.

He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and diabetes.

Cao and his family were raised as Roman Catholics.

He studied for several years after college to become a priest.

He attended public schools and graduated from Jersey Village High School in Houston.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

He studied as a Jesuit seminarian for six years, but withdrew when he concluded that the ministry was not his calling.

He served as a board member of BPSOS from September 1996 to March 2002.

After working with Waltzer & Associates, Cao opened his own law practice in New Orleans specializing in immigration law.

Dismayed by the government response to the disaster following Hurricane Katrina, Cao became more involved in politics.

He soon became involved in leading New Orleans East residents to oppose a landfill in their area.

Cao is the first Vietnamese American, as well as the first native of Vietnam, to serve in US Congress.

He earned a Master of Arts in philosophy from Fordham University in New York City, and in 2000 his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.

While in law school, Cao also taught undergraduate courses in philosophy at Loyola.

Cao used his legal training and experience in immigration issues.

For a period he taught at a parochial school in Virginia.

He volunteered at Boat People SOS (BPSOS) to assist Vietnamese refugees and immigrants and help organize Vietnamese-American communities in the state toward self-sufficiency.

Cao was the only Republican congressman to vote for the draft Obamacare, known as Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in November 2009.

Cao was the least affluent member of Louisiana's delegation in Congress: as of 2009 his assets were no greater than $195,000 and his potential liabilities amounted to $215,000, including student loans for himself and his wife.

Cao was sworn into office on January 6, 2009, with his family and a group of Vietnamese-Americans in attendance.

After the swearing-in by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Jefferson Parish Judge Robert Murphy re-administered the oath in Cao's new office.

On March 24, 2009, 11 weeks to the day after he was sworn in as a new member, Cao delivered his first speech on the House floor: his statement supported a bill by California Democrat Linda Sánchez to express congressional support of Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

In the speech, which was broadcast on C-SPAN, Cao said, of Vietnam War veterans, "I am pleased that I, a direct beneficiary of their service, can take part ... in this historic event."

The bill passed.

Cao's speech had been written by his Legislative Director, A. Brooke Bennett.

In April 2011, Cao announced his candidacy for the office of Attorney General of Louisiana, but in September 2011 he pulled out of the race.

Despite the tardiness of the election date, Cao rapidly set up his office and staff and gained committee assignments for the 111th Congress.

In December 2015, he announced that he would run for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring fellow Republican David Vitter in 2016.

As Cao finished eleventh in the primary, he did not place high enough to advance to the general election.