Hung Cao
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Hung Cao (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Virginia. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
On February 27, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) announced he would nominate Cao to serve as under-secretary of the U.S. Navy in his second presidential administration.[1]
Biography
Hung Cao served in the U.S. Navy from 1989 to 2021. He earned a bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1996. He earned a graduate degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2008. His career experience includes working with U.S. Navy special operations.[2]
Elections
2024
See also: United States Senate election in Virginia, 2024
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Virginia
Incumbent Tim Kaine defeated Hung Cao in the general election for U.S. Senate Virginia on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tim Kaine (D) | 54.4 | 2,417,115 |
 | Hung Cao (R) | 45.4 | 2,019,911 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 8,509 | ||
| Total votes: 4,445,535 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Gary Barve (R)
- Tiger Xiong (Independent)
- Jonathan Hardin (Independent)
- Csaba Menezes Rusznak (Independent)
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Tim Kaine advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Virginia.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Virginia
Hung Cao defeated Scott Parkinson, Eddie Garcia, Chuck Smith, and Jonathan Walker Emord in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Virginia on June 18, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Hung Cao | 61.8 | 168,868 |
 | Scott Parkinson | 11.0 | 29,940 | |
 | Eddie Garcia | 9.8 | 26,777 | |
 | Chuck Smith | 8.8 | 24,108 | |
 | Jonathan Walker Emord | 8.6 | 23,614 | |
| Total votes: 273,307 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kimberly Nadine Lowe (R)
- Craig Ennis (R)
- TJ Wallace (R)
- Gwendolyn Hickman (R)
- Ron Vitiello (R)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[3] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[4] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
The links below show polls for this race aggregated by FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, where available. Click here to read about FiveThirtyEight's criteria for including polls in its aggregation.
Election campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Kaine | Democratic Party | $21,763,526 | $21,462,964 | $2,820,225 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Hung Cao | Republican Party | $9,832,460 | $9,517,135 | $407,806 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Jonathan Walker Emord | Republican Party | $893,764 | $893,031 | $733 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Eddie Garcia | Republican Party | $360,969 | $356,902 | $4,067 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Scott Parkinson | Republican Party | $999,121 | $992,104 | $7,017 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Chuck Smith | Republican Party | $573,144 | $573,144 | $0 | As of November 19, 2024 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
As of Oct. 28, 2024, the two major party candidates had the 16th largest difference in terms of total money raised between major party Senate candidates and the 16th largest difference in terms of total spending. Click here to learn more.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[5][6][7]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[8]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[9][10][11]
| Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Virginia, 2024 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 5, 2024 | October 29, 2024 | October 22, 2024 | October 15, 2024 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Decision Desk HQ and The Hill | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week. | |||||||||
Endorsements
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Cao received the following endorsements.
- State Delegate Terry Kilgore (R)
- Frmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R)
- Frmr. VA Gov. Bob McDonnell (R)
- Frmr. U.S. Pres. Donald Trump (R)
- Virginia Citizens Defense League
Pledges
Cao signed the following pledges.
2022
See also: Virginia's 10th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Virginia District 10
Incumbent Jennifer Wexton defeated Hung Cao in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 10 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jennifer Wexton (D) | 53.2 | 157,405 |
| Hung Cao (R) | 46.7 | 138,163 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 572 | ||
| Total votes: 296,140 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jennifer Wexton advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 10.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Shadi Ayyas (D)
Republican primary election
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Republican Primary for U.S. House Virginia District 10
The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Hung Cao in round 9 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
|
Total votes: 15,168 |
|||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Clay Percle (R)
- Paul Lott (R)
- Adam Gizinski (R)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Hung Cao did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign ads
| June 4, 2024 |
| July 18, 2023 |
View more ads here:
2022
Hung Cao completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cao's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Hung retired in October 2021 as Captain, dedicating 25 years in Navy Special Operations. He commanded various special operations units around the world. During his last combat deployment in 2020-2021 he was the Director of counter-Improvised Threats throughout Afghanistan.
Hung worked with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for four years alongside law enforcement. Hung he programmed and balanced the Navy’s $140B annual budget. In Hung’s final assignment, he led the Department of Defense in Sensitive Activities.
Hung currently works at CACI International. He is the founder and CEO of a non-profit organization that helps visually impaired children. He is a Christian mentor and led mission trips around the world. Hung is on the board of Advisors for a national Veteran Services Organization. Hung is married to April, and EMT and they homeschooled their five children.- We need to harness the American Spirit of innovation that allowed us to create the lightbulb, the automobile, the airplane, the radio and the telephone. We need to get Government out of our business and to let Americans be Americans
- Federal government needs to balance the budget, provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare. Most other activities need to be delegated to the States in accordance with the Tenth Amendment
- We need to be energy independent as we were a year ago. This will correct 90% of our current problems of high gas prices, food prices , unemployment and inflation
- End Mandates
- - Allow Religious exemptions
- Accept off-label alternatives
ECONOMY: We must unleash the power of the American spirit, allowing industry to innovate and small businesses to thrive. Government needs to stay out of the way and let America be America.
- Control Inflation
- Restore the dignity of work
- Cutting taxes
- Balancing the budget
HOMELAND SECURITY: Government’s role is to provide for the common defense. Defense of our homeland and way of life should be the Federal Government’s main priority.
- Securing our borders
- Backing our law enforcement
NATIONAL DEFENSE: Before we send brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen into harm's way, we must give them the tools to win.
- Developing new technologies
- Properly Training our military
EDUCATION: Education is the most important weapon in America’s arsenal, allowing the American people to lead the world in technology and innovation.
- Educating our children not indoctrinating them
- School Choice
He passed away on February 13, 2022 and his 88 year legacy was a 61 year marriage to my mom, 5 successful children, 14 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild (+2 on the way). My father grabbed the American Dream for us with both hands and never let go.
Wheeeee!!!!
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Cao's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
My policies are simple: Government needs to leave us alone! Government needs to stay out of our businesses, out of our homes, out of our churches, away from our children and away from our guns. We are the most powerful country in the world and the American spirit allowed us to invent the lightbulb which lit the way for the world; the automobile which takes the world to work each day; the airplane which allows us to fly across the oceans and put a man on the moon. American innovation created the smartphone used by millions around the world to stay connected. Let Americans be Americans and we will continue to lead the world in technological advances to advance mankind.
We must unleash the power of the American spirit, allowing industry to innovate and small businesses to thrive. Government needs to stay out of the way and let America be America.
Education is the most important weapon in America’s arsenal, allowing the American people to lead the world in technology and innovation. Educating our children not indoctrinating them: Our children deserve better than what they are getting from the education establishment. We must get back to basics and ensure students are given a strong foundation of reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and civics. To provide our children with a quality education, schools must be open and political agendas removed from the classroom. School Choice: I will always support parents’ rights to advocate for our children’s education without intimidation. The government does not give us rights as parents; they are our natural rights given to us by God and as such, cannot be removed. An expectation of excellence must be restored in our schools and parents must be given options when their schools do not meet their expectations.
Government’s role is to provide for the common defense. Defense of our homeland and way of life should be the Federal Government’s main priority.
Before we send brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen into harm's way, we must give them the tools to win.
How is it that bacteria on Mars is considered life, but a viable fetus is not? Every pre-born child is a human being deserving of protection as the most vulnerable members of our society. As the parent of an adopted child, I know there are many wonderful Americans yearning to welcome a child into their home and love them. I have dedicated a lifetime to protect ALL Americans, born or unborn.[12] |
” |
| —Hung Cao's campaign website (2022)[13] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Footnotes
- ↑ Truth Social, "Trump on February 27, 2025," accessed March 5, 2025
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 3, 2022
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Hung Cao for Congress, “Policies,” accessed November 1, 2022
