Joseph Cao, a Republican and former congressman, will keep the seat on Louisiana's school board that Gov. Jeff Landry appointed him to earlier this year.
Cao received 64% of the vote against his Democratic challenger, Angela Hershey, a retired teacher in St. Tammany Parish.
All votes had been counted as of 11 pm, except for early and absentee ballots in Orleans Parish.
Cao raised more than $162,000 in contributions and loaned his campaign an additional $123,400. He had spent about $279,000 on the race as of late October.
He faced two Republican challengers in the May primary, Ellie Schroder and Mike Hollis, the former board member’s brother. Cao beat Schroder in a runoff, 52% to 48%.
Hershey had no Democratic challengers in the May primary. Campaign finance records show her campaign reported no contributions or spending and had no cash on hand.
Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, known as BESE, is the state’s policy-making body for public K-12 schools. The board oversees the state Department of Education, hires the state superintendent and sets the formula for distributing state money to public schools, which the Legislature can approve or reject but not change.
The board consists of 11 members: eight elected, one from each BESE district, and three appointed by the governor to represent the state at large. All serve four years aligned to the governor’s term.
Cao has represented District 1, which includes most of St. Tammany Parish and parts of Jefferson, Orleans and Tangipahoa, since Paul Hollis left the seat for a job with the Trump administration in January.
He will serve the remainder of Hollis’ term, which ends in 2028.
Cao’s priorities include expanding the state’s LA GATOR program, expanding student access to healthcare in schools and increasing teacher pay.
LA GATOR, the state’s expanded school voucher program, gives parents access to public money to spend on private education and, if fully funded, would eventually be open to all, regardless of income. For now, the program is limited to certain students, and lower-income families get priority.
Louisiana’s Senate has twice rejected Landry’s requests to dramatically increase funding for LA GATOR since lawmakers created it in 2024.
Cao came to the U.S. as a refugee of the Vietnam War. His family eventually settled in Texas, and he graduated from Baylor University in 1990.
He taught at a Catholic school in Virginia, then taught philosophy and ethics at Loyola University New Orleans while earning his law degree there. He served in the U.S. House from 2009 to 2011.
Cao was the first Vietnamese American to serve in Congress. He owns a law firm in Harvey on the West Bank.
