Cold Cash Jefferson Loses House Seat

Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who was caught with $90,000 in cash stored in his office freezer, lost his reelection bid to a Republican. Color me shocked.

In a year when national Republican fortunes took a turn for the worse, Louisiana delivered the GOP two seats in Congress in elections delayed by Hurricane Gustav.

Indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was ousted Saturday from his New Orleans area district, while Republicans narrowly held on to the seat vacated by a retiring incumbent.

The wins followed Republicans' reconquest of another House seat earlier this fall that had been lost to Democrats.

In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson's 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state legislature.

Jefferson survived a Democratic primary race despite pending charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office.

Cao will be the first Vietnamese American in Congress. Congrats!

Cao will have a very difficult road ahead of him as Louisiana continues to struggle in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the state's rebuilding efforts continue to lag.

UPDATE:
Isn't it funny that Louisiana voters could send Jefferson packing, but Harlem voters couldn't do the same for Charles Rangel despite his ethical flaps and tax evasion?