Yesterday, voters in Louisiana’s 2nd District kicked out indicted Congressman William “Cold Cash” Jefferson:
(CNN) — Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, lost his bid for re-election on Saturday.
Republican challenger Anh “Joseph” Cao, an attorney and community organizer, defeated Jefferson in the 2nd Congressional district race. He will become the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cao had almost 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson’s 47 percent.
The 2nd Congressional district, in and around New Orleans, is mostly African-American and heavily Democratic, and Jefferson appeared to be favored to win re-election going into the election.
“The people of the second district were able to transcend party, transcend race,” Cao said after claiming victory Saturday night.
Voters also chose Republican John Fleming over Democrat Paul Carmouche in Louisiana’s 4th District by a slim 356-vote margin.
Fleming will replace retiring 10-term Republican Rep. Jim McCrery, a top-ranking Republican on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
So, one hold and one pickup makes a good day for the GOP.
What’s unclear is whether Cao’s victory, which was clearly a repudiation of Jefferson, is sustainable. If the Democrats come back with a good candidate in 2010, my guess is that they’ll be able to take the seat back.
