Republicans Win Races in Louisiana

I'm not sure what to think of the House elections yesterday in Louisiana.

Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao unseated Rep. William Jefferson in the 2nd District.

The 2nd District has a history of being represented by a Democrat. Jefferson was first elected to his House seat in 1990.

When he takes office next month, Cao will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. He fled Vietnam with his family when he was a child.

It was a narrow win — less than 2,000 votes separated the two candidates.

And it's possible, as the New Orleans Times-Picayune observes, that, if the two House races had not been postponed by one month by Hurricane Gustav, Jefferson could have survived if the district had elected its representative on Nov. 4, when greater numbers of blacks were drawn to the polls by Barack Obama's candidacy.

The other district, the 4th District, has a history of being represented by a Republican, but Rep. Jim McCrery, who held the seat for 20 years, chose to retire. A Republican, John Fleming, was elected to replace him.

Thus, as the Times-Picayune points out, "Louisiana bucked the national trend and wound up with a congressional delegation of six Republicans and a single Democrat. Three Democrats represent Louisiana in the current Congress."

There are two unresolved House races left — in Ohio and Virginia. The results in Louisiana give Democrats an advantage of 255-178.

And there's one unresolved Senate race — in Minnesota. At the moment, Democrats hold 56 seats and two seats are held by independents who caucus with them. Republicans hold 41 seats.