State Rep. Cedric Richmond (D) is set to announce today his intention to challenge freshman Rep. Anh “Joseph— Cao (R) in the New Orleans-based 2nd district.

“I intend on joining a new generation of leaders in our country who put partisanship, corruption and ineffectiveness behind them,— Richmond said in a statement. “I have done this in the state legislature and it is time to do it in Washington.—

Cao, who defeated disgraced former Rep. William Jefferson (D) in a low turnout December election last year, is widely considered the most vulnerable House Member this cycle given the overwhelming Democratic tilt of the majority-black 2nd district.

“Four years have passed since the federal government failed us during Hurricane Katrina,— said Richmond, who is likely to be one of several Democrats who enter the race. “And for the past year Congressman Cao has continued that failure by siding time and again with the hard-line D.C. Republican leadership against the people of the second district.—

Richmond was one of several Democrats who was unable to defeat Jefferson in the Democratic primary last year. He had just $900 in a Congressional campaign account as of June 30. Cao, by contrast, had more than $339,000 in cash on hand.