Path to Power
Born in what was then Saigon in 1967, Cao left war-torn Vietnam for Guam with two siblings when he was 8.After being moved by his father to Arkansas, he was taken in by a family in Goshen, Ind.
Cao garnered a degree in physics before moving to New Orleans in 1992. He left in 1995, getting a philosophy degree at Fordham University. He soon returned to New Orleans, working as a philosophy and ethics professor at Loyola University while preparing for a life in the priesthood.
Cao said he gave up on his career in the priesthood following a "faith crisis" in the early 1990s. After witnessing poverty during visits to Mexico and Hong Kong, he concluded "God does address the issue of human suffering by sending good people" to alleviate it. His new path: politics.
After acquiring his law degree from Loyola University, Cao became the counsel for Boat People S.O.S. Inc., an organization that helped Vietnamese immigrants and other minorities. In 2002, he was chosen as a member of the National Advisory Council of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. One of his focuses was the Catholic response to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed Cao's home and law office.
In 2007, Cao ran in his first election. An independent in a state representative race, Cao came in fifth of six candidates.
2008 House Bid
Cao began his 2008 House bid shortly after a Virginia grand jury indicted then-Rep. Jefferson on bribery and public corruption charges. With the backing of Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) among other local GOP officials, Cao was the only Republican to enter the 2008 race against Jefferson in Louisiana's staunchly Democratic 2nd district.
Jefferson survived the primary and a runoff that was postponed until the national election day due to the Hurricane Gustav evacuation earlier in the year.
On Nov. 30, 2008, a week before the House election, Cao won the endorsement of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. With low African-American turnout and Jefferson snubbed by Barack Obama, the little-known Cao won the election by less than three percentage points.
After the upset, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) issued a memo saying "The Future is Cao" and the Louisiana Republican's victory is "a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative, and work aggressively to earn the trust of the American people."
The honeymoon was short-lived. After party leaders pressured Cao into voting against the February 2009 economic stimulus, a group of African-American ministers led a campaign to recall him. The Louisiana attorney general ruled that House members could not be recalled.
Cao sits on three House Committees: Homeland Security; Transportation and Infrastructure; and Oversight and Government Reform.
