New Orleans – State Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, announced Tuesday his candidacy for the Second Congressional Dist. seat currently held by Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-New Orleans.
“I intend to join a new generation of leaders in our country who reject partisanship, corruption and ineffectiveness as a thing of the past. This is what I have done in the state legislature and I am ready to take that same spirit to Washington.”
Cao won the seat based on a similar platform when he reached out to voters tired of hearing about the legal troubles of former Congressman William Jefferson, who held the seat before Cao beat him in 2008.
Richmond also ran for Jefferson’s seat, but lost in the democratic primary to Jefferson and political newcomer Helena Moreno.
It didn’t take long for Richmond to throw his first political punch at Cao.
“Four years have passed since the federal government failed us during Hurricane Katrina. And for the past year Congressman Cao has continued that failure by siding time and again with the hard-line DC Republican leadership against the people of the second district.”
State Rep. Juan Lafonta, D-New Orleans, has also expressed interest in running for the seat. Cao has not officially announced he will seek re-election in 2010.
