Tea Party Boots Eric Cantor From Congress

Eric Cantor, the Republican House Majority Leader, has been thrown out of office by the Tea Party, backing a little-known candidate.

Dave Brat was the victor in the Republican primary, besting Cantor by 10 percentage points. This leaves Brat as the main contender against the Democratic challenger.

The Republican Party has been rocked for the last few years by a battle between the TEA Party and mainstream GOP candidates. Many observers within the party saw Cantor as the next Speaker of the House. The election of Brat removes Cantor from his seat, opening the post for a new speaker.

Former speaker Newt Gingrich said, “I think this is a scale eight earthquake. I think it will shock the Washington establishment; it will shock the House Republicans.”

Cantor is the second incumbent lawmaker to lose their positions during primary elections this year. Ralph Hall of Texas was recently defeated. In Mississippi, Thad Cochran was also narrowly defeated in a recent election by a TEA Party challenger. However, that victory for the reformers was not by large enough of a margin to win outright, and a runoff is scheduled.

Brent Bozell, chairman of For America, said that “Eric Cantor’s loss tonight is an apocalyptic moment for the GOP establishment. The grass-roots is in revolt and marching.”

Brat centered most of his opposition to Cantor of the lawmaker’s support of raising the debt ceiling, support for immigration reform and vote to end the government shutdown.

Cantor held the seat from 2001, and he was the House majority leader. From 20009 to 2011, he held the post of minority whip in the lower chamber of Congress.

This win could serve to embolden the TEA Party movement. Even with significantly smaller campaign war chests than establishment candidates, the TEA Party has changed the game in Washington with this last victory.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/11/politics/cantor-upset-analysis

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-eric-cantor-upset-what-happened

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/09/virginia-voters-guide-june-10-

primary/10240113

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-eric-cantor-dave-brat-primary-

20140611-story.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/11/cantor-primary-loss-shocks-capitol-hill-

could-put-immigration-debate-on-hold