Human Race

HIRED: Time magazine Washington bureau chief Jay Carney is ending his 20-year career with the newsweekly to serve as Vice President-elect Joe Biden's director of communications.

ELECTED: Louisiana voters on Dec. 6 ousted Democrat William Jefferson, 61, and sent Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao, 41, to the House of Representatives. Cao, the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress, surged to a surprise victory in the predominantly black, heavily Democratic district and ended Jefferson's nine-term congressional career. Low voter turnout during the election, which Hurricane Gustav had delayed, likely hurt Jefferson, who was projected to win despite battling scandals and a federal indictment.