Hung Cao is a Vietnam refugee who fled the country at age 4 before settling in Virginia with his wife April, and five children

The retired Captain in Navy Special Operations, Hung Cao, recently forwarded himself into the November 5, 2024, U.S. Senate election by winning with majority votes (61.8%) from the Republican primary in Virginia on June 18, 2024.

As a Vietnam immigrant, Hung Cao’s campaign focused on border security, immigration policy, military resources, and parental rights.

His campaign also received endorsements from former President Donald Trump on May 26, 2024, making his win somewhat predictable.

The campaign attracted everyone’s attention as Hung Cao is a veteran who served 25 years of his youth in his second home, America, which gave him and his family a chance to survive the fall of Saigon after he had to flee Vietnam in April 1975.

Primarily, Cao’s family moved to West Africa when he was 4, but later, they returned to America and settled down in Annandale, Virginia.

He was determined to return the favor, so he initially stood up for the 10th Congressional District in 2022 but could not set his win against Rep. Jennifer Wexton.

However, with the 2024 Virginia Senate race win, Cao is ready to fulfill his duty toward his second home.

Hung Cao said America saved him and gave him a chance to start his life with his wife, April

Republican Hung Cao is currently 52 years old, born around 1972, as he has not revealed his exact date of birth to his Vietnamese parents, who lost their families during the Vietcong terror.

Initially, they moved to West Africa and spent seven years before shifting to America when Cao was 10 years old in 1982.

Hung Cao became the first Vietnamese refugee to graduate from Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1989.

Cao always wanted to repay his debt to America for saving his life, so he joined the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering.

Some of his major operations included finding military material lost from airplanes in the deep seas, as his special career was as a Deep Sea Diver and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Officer.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Cao also completed his master’s degree in applied physics from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2008 and received fellowships from MIT and Harvard.

Meanwhile, while serving in the US Navy, Hung Cao married his best friend and wife, April Lakata Cao, on December 12, 1998. They are parents to five children whose names they have not revealed.

April Lakata Cao is a gifted professional writer and a First Responder who homeschooled her kids for nine years. She and her husband are currently active in the community and church.

Cao also mentions Lakata as his most trusted counselor, who will be by his side when he walks to represent the 10th District.

Additional Information

• Hung Cao moved with his family at least 13 times across the United States before settling at their family home in Purcellville, Virginia.
• He served in the Navy Special Operations for 25 years before retiring in October 2021.
• Hung Cao has amassed a total net worth of $10 million, at least given his two-and-a-half decade-long career in the Navy, where his current position as Vice President of the Navy and Marine Corps Client Executive earns him an annual salary of $142,000 at the very least.
• Despite being the leading candidate among his GOP rivals to raise the highest donation for his Senate campaign, which was around $2.5 million, Hung Cao does not have a dedicated Wikipedia page.