Home » Posts tagged 'Virginia 7th District' (Page 2)
Tag Archives: Virginia 7th District
U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor goes down in primary shocker
House’s No. 2 Republican ousted by his own voters in Virginia’s 7th District
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
RICHMOND (CFP) — In one of 2014’s biggest election shockers, U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has lost a Republican primary to a challenger who derided him as a Washington insider.
GOP House nominee Dave Brat
Despite being outspent 25-to-1, Dave Brat of Henrico, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College, took 56 percent of the June 10 vote in Virginia’s 7th District, compared to 44 percent for Cantor.
Cantor, widely seen as the heir apparent to House Speaker John Boehner, is now out of Congress, leaving an unexpected vacancy in the House leadership.
Brat began the race saying he wanted to be Cantor’s “term limit.” He also said the majority leader “has spent his time climbing the power ladder, making backroom deals and undermining conservative legislation.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
Brat also criticized Cantor for supporting legislation that would have allowed some children of illegal immigrants to remain in the country. Cantor shot back, saying he was opposed to granting “amnesty” to illegal immigrants and touting his opposition to an immigration reform bill now stalled in the House.
Federal Election Commission reports also show Cantor raised and spent more than $5 million on the primary — 25 times what Brat managed to raise.
The 7th District takes in suburban Richmond and some rural areas to the north. The district is heavily Republican, making Brat the prohibitive favorite in November.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will face primary challenge in Virginia
Dave Brat says he’ll bring “true conservative representation” to Congress, tying Cantor to President Obama
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
RICHMOND (CFP) — Add one more name to the list of Republican leaders in Congress facing a primary challenge from their Tea Party flank — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Cantor challenger Dave Brat
Dave Brat, 49, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College who lives in Henrico County, announced January 9 that he would seek the 7th District seat in Virginia, which Cantor first won in 2000.
“This will be a tough campaign, but I believe the Seventh District deserves better, and that we can restore government to the people,” Brat said in an announcement of his candidacy posted on his Web site.
Brat’s site features a picture of Cantor standing next to Obama, with the caption “Reforming Washington.”
Brat told the National Review that his campaign would “rattle some cages.”
“I want to be Eric Cantor’s term limit,” Brat said.
However, Brat will face a major hurdle in trying to unseat Cantor — cash. The congessman raised more than $3 million during the first nine months of 2013 and had $1.8 million in cash on hand, according to figures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The 7th District includes northern and western areas of metro Richmond, then stretches northwest to the Shenandoah Valley. It is solidly but not overhwlemingly Republican, giving Mitt Romney 57 percent of the vote in 2012 percent of the vote.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
Cantor, 50, from Richmond, is second in the GOP hierarchy, behind House Speaker John Boehner. He won with 58 percent of the vote iin 2012, which was the closest election he’s had since first coming to the House.
Cantor has the distinction of being the only Jewish Republican in Congress.
Canton and Boehner have run into criticism from some Tea Party groups over their support for immigration reform and a recent budget deal reached with Democrats to avoid another government shutdown.
Tea Party activists have vowed to fund a primary challenge to Boehner back home in Ohio. Meanwhile, the two top Republicans in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, are both facing primary challengers in 2014.
Chicken Fried Politics 