Hung Cao (politician)
# Hung Cao (politician)

Hung Cao (born 1971/1972) is a Vietnamese-born American retired Navy Captain and politician. He was the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia for Virginia's 10th congressional district, but lost the election to incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton.

## Early life and naval career

Cao was born in Vietnam in 1971 or 1972. His family immigrated to Reston, Virginia after the Fall of Saigon in 1975. After moving to Niger for some time, Cao moved back to the United States with his mother and sisters when he was 12. In 1989, he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. He earned a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School. He served 25 years as a commissioned navy officer. Trained in the navy's Special Operations program, Cao salvaged planes and ships around the world from 1997 to 2013. As operations officer on the USS Grasp, he oversaw the naval recovery operation following the John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash and personally dived to rig up the plane for retrieval. He deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. As a navy commander, he commanded the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center from 2013 to 2016. He was promoted to captain in 2017. Before his separation from the navy in 2021, he worked at the programming division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and as a division chief at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

## Political career

Cao's first political campaign was his campaign in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia for Virginia's 10th congressional district. In the Republican primary election, which took place on May 21, 2022, and used a ranked choice system, he defeated ten other candidates and won roughly 52% of the vote in the ninth round. He faced incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton in the general election on November 8, 2022, and lost to her, 47.1% to 52.9%.

### Political views

Cao opposes abortion and supported the overturn of Roe v. Wade. He opposes gun control.

## Personal life

Cao is a resident of Purcellville, Virginia. He and his wife April have five children, who are homeschooled.

