Republican Veteran Hung Cao Runs for Senate Against Democrat Tim Kaine

Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao announced on Tuesday he will run against Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).

“After serving 25 years in the U.S. Navy, I recognize that our country has real problems and we need real fighters in Washington. I’m running for United States Senate because I’m not done fighting for us,” Cao wrote.

After serving 25 years in the U.S. Navy, I recognize that our country has real problems and we need real fighters in Washington. I’m running for United States Senate because I’m not done fighting for us. pic.twitter.com/IYVmIh1V2c

— Hung Cao (@HungCao_VA) July 18, 2023

In his announcement video, Cao said that his family escaped from Vietnam just days before Saigon fell to the communists. He said that America gave his family a new life, and he tried to repay his debt to America by spending time with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

However, he warned that America is taking a “dark turn” under President Joe Biden, citing Biden’s Department of Justice’s (DOJ) targeting of pro-life activists, raiding a gun shop and targeting law-abiding gun owners, and indicting former President Donald Trump, his most likely challenger during the 2024 presidential election.

Cao ran as the Republican nominee in Virginia’s 10th district during the 2022 midterm elections and nearly flipped a district that went for Biden by 19 points in 2020.

A biography of Cao reads:

Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. After a few years in West Africa, Hung moved to Virginia as a child and is a proud member of the inaugural graduating class of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. He was commissioned as a Special Operations Officer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Deep Sea Diving) from the United States Naval Academy, and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Hung’s non-combat assignments included balancing the Navy’s $140 billion budget at the Pentagon, working with Homeland Security, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Hung received his Masters degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and fellowships at MIT and Harvard. He and his wife April are the parents of five beautiful children. After their thirteenth move across the United States, and around the world, Hung and April moved their family home to Purcellville, Virginia where they have been active in their community and church.

“I still believe America can be the land of opportunity. I have an obligation to fight back against those that want to control our lives and distrupt our families,” he said.

“We must refuse to be intimidated, we must be fearless,” he said, adding that he is “not done fighting for us.”