Great, a sure Democratic win in 2010. One gain to balance the almost certain Republican't wins in an off election during a Democratic President's first term.

If the Democrats in his district had their shit together, he would have been ousted in a primary in 2006. Unfortunately, the power of incumbancy is usually too strong to overcome at the primary level. Needless to say, we, as a party, must not tolerate elected officials like Jefferson. The Demoicrats must necessarily be a big tent, but not so big as to include corrupt pols and their cronies.

I'll take the loss of a seat for the ouster of "Cold Cash" Jefferson. The Dems should have tossed him as soon as he was charged & the CBC's behaviour was shameful.

Rostenkowski's seat was won by some Repub in 1994 - that one flipped back quickly. No reason this will be any different, unless the Katrina diaspora is bigger and longer than anyone projected.

It's almost like Republicans have some sort of built-in advantage when the election is held on any day but election day.

This, coupled with Saxby Chamblis' win in Georgia, clearly is a sign of voter dissatisfaction with Barack Obama's handling of the transition to the Presidency and a clear indicator of a new surge in Republican Party strength that will be reflected in major restoration of the party's power in 2010.

You go GOP....being more conservative is clearly the path to victory.

And the GOP declares the beginning of the end of Democrats rule in five, four, three...

First Chambliss, now Cao!
OMG!

It's a Republican rout!
Ready for the gleeful whoops that the GOP is back and ready for action in 2010?

Democrats have bounced their number one "They it too!" Achilles heel. 10:1 says none of them recognizes this turn of events as a bad thing for them in the long term.

Poor Michelle Malkin:

Well, this tempers my enthusiasm: A commenter notes that Cao is pro-amnesty immigration lawyer.

So, does the FBI put a tail on Jefferson and his "magic refrigerator" and conduct a new search the minute the new Congress is sworn in?

First Jefferson, then Lieberman.

As the job market becomes ever smaller, glad to hear a huge field is opening in Louisiana. Vetting should put a whole lot of PIs to work, no matter which side of the Bayou, one is on.

Money, young boys or girls, animals..........

Losing this seat for two years is a small price to pay to get Dollar Bill out. Regardless of how much of a pariah he was, him still being on Capitol Hill was a stain on the Democrats. Cao did us a big favor here.

I agree, he's one term and done. The comparison to Rostenkowski's defeat in 1994 are quite obvious.

I've probably never seen so many Democrats so pleased to see a Republican defeat a Democratic incumbent. The DCCC not only refused to help Jefferson's re-election bid, but the party didn't even endorse him.

Kudos to the Democratic Party on this one.

Yes, Cao will have to work hard to be re-elected, but there are lots of Vietnamese in Louisiana, and the governor is a Republican. If Cao does better than Jefferson at Katrina-related restoration, he should have a good chance.

The name others can't remember is Michael Patrick Flanagan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Patrick_Flanagan

Flanagan beat Rostenkowski.

And Flanagan was beat by Rod Blagojevich.

Hmm, if the Feds pop Blagojevich, Flanagan should run for governor.

Congratulations to Joseph Cao, he seems like a nice guy. He's probably not long for Congress, however if he can make it past 2010, he's set. After reapportionment, the LA legislature can gerrymander his district into a safe seat.

This is good news. Jefferson is a criminal, and he's hopefully got jail time in his future. The only real regret is that the Dems might have been able to shitcan him earlier and get another Dem to run for the seat.

Congratulations Representative Cao!

Cao just might be what the republicans needs - Someone who knows how to govern.

The republicans can run successful campaigns - yet they are dumb as hell when it comes to using skills and making decisions.

Ah, Michelle- "pull the ladder up after me and stomp on the fingers of any one trying to do what I did."