Hung Cao, who was one of the more promising but unsuccessful GOP House candidates in Virginia in 2022, announced this morning he’s running for U.S. Senate, aiming to unseat incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine.
Cao brings an immigrant success story to the primary, as well as a distinguished military record and unusual life experiences, including salvaging planes and ships around the world, including that of John F. Kennedy Jr., as part the Navy’s Special Operations unit. But judging from his announcement video, Cao will be emphasizing a lot of culture war issues, contending the Biden administration is threatening Americans’ freedom by arresting pro-life activists, directing the IRS to seize the financial records of gun stores, and pressing criminal charges against former president Donald Trump – while turning a blind eye to violent crime and gangs breaking and entering stores, and leaving the nation’s southern border unsecure.
“The Biden family? That’s how it works in a dictatorship. The rules don’t apply to the rulers,” Cao says in his announcement video. “We are losing our country. You know it, but you also know you can’t say it.”
Last year, Cao won 46.6 percent of the vote against incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton, in a D+6 congressional district where the previous two GOP challengers to Wexton had won 43 percent.
Beating Kaine in a presidential year will be a tall order, but Cao is likely to surpass the performance of Kaine’s most recent challenger; Kaine cruised to reelection against Corey Stewart in 2018, 57 percent to 41 percent.