Juan Lafonta and Cedric Richmond are trying to win a seat in Congress that was once ruled  by former Congressman William Jefferson. Since then, Joseph Cao managed to gain a historic victory by beating Congressman Jefferson in a runoff to become the first Vietnamese Congressman ever elected in the United States, no small feat, and come election time Joseph Cao will have the financial support of wealthy Vietnamese business men and little old Vietnamese ladies who still save their money under the mattress, across the U.S. he is the  standard bearer of Vietnamese political muscle. His war chest is expected to dwarf both of his challengers.

This is for all the marbles, two state representatives are trying to win the lottery so to speak and step up to the big time by winning a seat in Congress. They face Joseph Cao another minority politician who has moved much further to the left in his views as of late. He has hired many African Americans to help run his staff and he knows that white voters that helped put him in office will put pressure on him to reaffirm that he's their boy. 

Cedric Richmond almost won the last time he ran for this seat. A crowded field of African American Democrats divided the vote and kept him out of office. Add the fact that William Jefferson in an act of what some might call selfishness could not swallow his pride, see the writing on the wall,  and pass the torch to the next generation of African American politicians. In this  Dixiecrat dominated south, Cedric is in an unenviable position, Congressional campaigns are not cheap and he dug deep in his finances the last time he ran. Forking over thousands to run slick TV commercials in his last bid for Congress that did not prove as effective as they could have been because the date of the primaries was  changed as a result of bad weather from a hurricane. Call it bad luck or whatever, but mother nature took a little steam out of his commercial blitz as voters were more worried about another hurricane slamming into New Orleans. Cedric has a fighters chance and I think he's still a fighter last time I checked.

Juan Lafonta who may run as Democrat or Independent has been a steady politician in the eyes of many and has managed to stay out of trouble. He may be able to capture a good number of white voters if he plays his cards right and that could be what he needs to manage a slim victory. Juan Lafonta has a nose for the cameras so he should be able to get enough face time for this election. Juan has caught the eye from the New Orleans political establishment, long time political insider attorney Trevor Bryan tells me that Juan may be the one to beat, while Trevor also recognized that Cedric  may have had his best chance slip away because  William Jefferson  did not step aside in the last election. Cedric has the smarts to think of something.

So here we go folks, round one,  this should be a great race, I will be following this race closely as it develops so check back. All three of these guys were at the New Orleans Town Hall and although this seat is not too high on the totem pole right now, if Richmond or Lafonta can pull it off then more  money is bound to flow to the Louisiana area, at least as long as Democrats control Congress.

TALE OF THE TAPE

Joseph Cao

Height- 5' 3''

Weight-(150-160)

War Chest-$$$

Cedric Richmond

Height- 5' 101/2"

Weight-(180-185)

War Chest-$1/2

Juan Lafonta

Height-5'10"

Weight-(250-260)

War Chest-$