Indicted Lousiana Democrat loses seat in Congress

Rep. William Jefferson looks on during a midterm election night celebration with supporters in New Orleans, Louisiana November 7, 2006.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in Louisiana ousted Democrat William Jefferson, who is awaiting trial on bribery charges involving $90,000 found in his freezer, from his seat in the U.S. Congress on Saturday.

Jefferson received 47 percent of the vote, and Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao received about 50 percent, state election officials said. Cao, a political newcomer, will be the first Vietnamese American in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Two other candidates each received small percentages.

Jefferson was accused last year of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from a dozen companies while using his office to broker business deals in Africa. In a search of his home, FBI agents said they found $90,000 in bribe money in a freezer.

Jefferson has been in Congress since 1991. His heavily Democratic district includes most of the city of New Orleans, which was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Saturday's election had been put off because of Hurricane Gustav, which threatened the city in September and delayed the Democratic primary.

Cao, 41, has never before held public office. The son of an officer in the South Vietnamese army who spent seven years in a communist prison, Cao came to the United States in 1975 with an older sister and younger brother.

Jefferson's defeat will not have a significant impact on the balance of power in the House, where Democrats hold a strong majority of the 435 seats.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Richard Williams)