In dramatic fashion yesterday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost in a very surprising primary on Tuesday. The Virginia (R) representative was thought to be in a comfortable position, as far as voting results went, according to late polls leading up to this year’s primary election. Some experts attribute Eric Cantor’s lost to his loose notions about immigration laws and reforms. As a result, this led winner , David Brat, some wiggle room to subtly push Cantor out of office, especially with the help of the highly right-winged Tea Party.
[AP Excerpt Via Alan Suderman]
–“The victory was by far the biggest of the 2014 campaign season for tea party forces, although last week they forced veteran Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran into a June 24 runoff, and hope state Sen. Chris McDaniel can prevail then.
Cantor’s defeat was the first primary setback for a senior leader in Congress in recent years. Former House Speaker Thomas Foley of Washington and Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota both lost their seats at the polls in the past two decades, but they fell to Republicans, not to challengers from within their own parties.
The outcome may well mark the end of Cantor’s political career, and aides did not respond Tuesday night when asked if the majority leader, 51, would run a write-in campaign in the fall.
But its impact on the fate of immigration legislation in the current Congress seemed clearer still. Conservatives will now be emboldened in their opposition to legislation to create a path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally, and party leaders who are more sympathetic to such legislation will likely be less willing to try.
The majority leader had been tugged by two warring forces in his party and in recent weeks sought to emphasize his opposition to far-reaching immigration legislation as Brat’s challenge gained force. Last month, a feisty crowd of Brat supporters booed Cantor in front of his family at a local party convention.
Still, neither he nor other House leaders betrayed any serious concern that his tenure was in danger, and his allies leaked a private poll in recent days that claimed he had a comfortable lead over Brat.
In the end, despite help from establishment groups, Cantor’s repudiation was complete in an area that first sent him to Congress in 2000.
With votes counted in 99 percent of the precincts, 64,418 votes were cast, roughly a 37 percent increase over two years ago.
Despite that, Cantor polled fewer votes than he did in 2012 — 28,631 this time, compared with 37,369 then.
House Speaker John Boehner issued a statement hailing Cantor as “a good friend and a great leader, and someone I’ve come to rely upon on a daily basis as we make the tough choices that come with governing.”–
Does the lost of Eric Cantor in the primaries surprise you? Though Tea Party affiliates consider this a major victory, so do Democrats. Democrats believe that the Tea Party is still too right winged for the majority of American’s approval making this Congressional spot wide open for both Virginia Republicans and Democrats. We’ll keep you posted on other Congressional results as the election dates slowly start to approach!
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