Eric Cantor had held his seat in Virginia's conservative 7th District for 13 years (since January of 2001). He was one of the most conservative members of Congress, having helped to orchestrate the government shutdown. He was the second most powerful man in the House of Representatives, being the majority leader of the House Republicans. He had raised 10 times as much money as his primary opponent ($2 million to his opponent's $200,000). And internal polls showed him leading with 60% of the vote as primary day drew near.But none of that mattered last night. The only thing that mattered was the anti-incumbent mood of the voters, which is evidently as strong among Republicans as it is among voters in general. And the 7th District GOP voters tossed Cantor out on his ear, giving him a defeat that was not even very close after the final totals were in (showing him losing by an 11.1 point margin).
Here are the official vote totals:
Eric Cantor...............28,631 (44.45%)
David Brat...............35,787 (55.55%)
This should be a warning for other congressmen, especially those in competitive districts. It's not just the Republicans in an anti-incumbent mood, but the public in general -- and a lot of those in competitive districts could find themselves looking for a new job come November.
This is a safe district for Republicans, so it is unlikely a Democrat could take this seat in November. But who knows? Nobody expected Cantor to lose last night either.
(The caricature above of Eric Cantor is by DonkeyHotey.)
