The head of conservative activist group in Louisiana is confident the Republican challenger who defeated indicted Democratic Congressman William Jefferson on Saturday will be a "strong voice" for traditional family values.
Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao unseated nine-term Democratic Congressman William Jefferson in Louisiana's 2nd District to become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. Cao won by three percentage points (50-47) in a New Orleans area district that had been very loyal to Jefferson despite his 2007 federal indictment on bribery and money laundering charges. Gene Mills, president of the Louisiana Family Forum, says the state has a tolerance for indicted officials, but that tolerance may be waning. However, he says Jefferson's legal troubles were not the only factor that contributed to his loss. "I think the fact that this election was held after the primary election and after the national elections certainly favored the challenger Cao," Mills observes. "In this particular race, he was able to pull more people to the poll. "It really does fundamentally come down to who shows up at the poll on Election Day -- and on this particular race, the Republicans certainly demonstrated that they have some horsepower in the offseason or in the non-major season elections." Mills says Republican sources have assured him that the congressman-elect holds to a traditional conservative perspective on life, marriage, employment non-discrimination, and smaller government. In an interview with The Associated Press, Jefferson blamed low voter turnout for his loss and said his supporters may have thought he was a "shoo-in" after winning a November 4 primary in the predominately black and heavily Democratic district. A New Orleans political consultant said his analysis indicated the turnout in predominately white sections of the district was double that in black areas.
If you believe OneNewsNow.com is an important source for Christian news, please consider a small tax-deductible gift for this service.
