2008Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
2008 election for Louisiana's 2nd District
U.S. House · Louisiana
Anh Cao (R) won with 49.5% of the vote, defeating William Jefferson (D) by 2.7 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Anh CaoRepublican · winner
49.5%33,132
William JeffersonDemocrat
46.8%31,318
Malik RahimGreen
2.8%1,883
Gregory W. KahnLibertarian
0.8%549
66,882 votes
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 2008
Races before and after
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
William JeffersonAnh Cao
$350.9K
Raised by the campaign
$242.5K
$342.2K
Spent by the campaign
$234.6K
$1.2K
Cash on hand
$8K
Other candidates' campaigns: Malik Rahim $11K.
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 2008.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 2008
The candidates
Anh Cao (R)William Jefferson (D)
Also on the ballot: Malik Rahim (Green), 2.8%; Gregory W. Kahn (Libertarian), 0.8%