Free Republic

So Majority Leader Eric Cantor has lost to a Tea Party candidate. Correction, Majority Leader Eric Cantor was crushed by a Tea Party candidate. In some ways, Cantor’s exit is a political tragedy. It shows that flirting with the existential enemies of the Constitution, of liberty, and of core Republican principles can bear a very heavy price. I’m convinced that had Cantor resisted the siren calls of the left on two key issues — immigration and giving Eric Holder renewed power over state elections — he would have won tonight.

Tabs at fancy D.C. steakhouses and the high overhead for Eric Cantor’s campaign drew plenty of mockery in the aftermath of his primary loss. But lobbyists and other big donors generally don’t cut $5,000 checks over a barbacoa burrito bowl. Cantor’s campaign and leadership PAC spent about $170,000 at classic D.C. powerhouse restaurants including Bobby Van’s Steakhouse and BLT Steak, according to FEC records. By comparison, his primary opponent Dave Brat spent about $122,000 in his entire campaign. “It’s rare that you would see a fundraiser at a Ruby Tuesday or a Chipotle,” said Lisa Spies, a veteran GOP fundraiser...

Scott Brown's campaign manager has fired off a memo "to interested parties" on what Eric Cantor's primary loss in Virginia means for the U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire. Colin Reed says the Cantor upset by a Tea Party surging candidate "contains worrisome lessons for Senator Jeanne Shaheen." Here are Reed's five points, verbatim, from his memo: 1. Supporting President Obama's Immigration Policies Is A Liability There is a crisis building on the southern border right now, with large numbers of young people seeking to enter the country illegally, encouraged by the pro-amnesty policies of President Obama and Senator Shaheen....

This was crazy! Adding insult to injury, far left amnesty activists stormed Eric Cantor’s election night headquarters after his loss to Dave Brat. Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 8:31 AM This was crazy! Adding insult to injury, far left amnesty activists stormed Eric Cantor’s election night headquarters after his loss to Dave Brat. They raided the wrong headquarters. Cantor lost. This had to hurt. The Washington Post reported: As if the political drama were not powerful enough, chaos erupted at election night headquarters shortly after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor conceded his stunning defeat to tea...

'Sic Semper Tyrannis' relates to the illustration shown of a  revolutionary citizen defeating a ruling class 'tyrant', and means: 'Always THUS to Tyrants' Fitting in the wake of this week's events in the Commonwealth-  and to the proud patriots of Virginia's 7th District I say THANK YOU  for delivering a message on behalf of all of us to today's tyrannical ruling class when the opportunity presented itself... God Bless and thanks again! Hey stoopid, you're next

Brat has called for slashing Social Security, Medicare, and education spending and says "rich" nations don't have to fear climate change. When tea party challenger David Brat sent Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House majority leader, to the ash heap on Tuesday night, vanquishing the incumbent by more than 10 points in the primary race, the politerati were stunned. Political journalists scrambled to answer a question: who is this guy? The political pros knew that Brat had mounted a campaign largely based on two issues: bashing Cantor on immigration (that is, excoriating the congressman, who was quite hesitant about immigration...

Blackstone Group $65,500 Scoggin Capital Management $40,400 Goldman Sachs $26,600 Altria Group $25,600 Charmer Sunbelt Group $25,000 Oracle Corp $25,000 White & Case $25,000 Verizon Communications $24,600 NorPAC $24,560 (SNIP) BRAT:Baugh Auto Body $5,400 Emory University Hospital $2,600 Magenta Consulting $2,600 McGuire Woods $2,600 Power Monitors $2,600 Covered Cleaning Concepts $2,500 G3 Systems Inc $2,500 HydroTec Inc $2,500 Walker Fitness $2,50

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) campaign spent more money at one posh steakhouse before his shocking Tuesday primary defeat than his opponent Dave Brat spent on his whole campaign. Cantor's campaign spent $124,177 at Bobby Van'S Grill and Steakhouse and $44,460 at Blt Steak for a total of $168,637. According to Open Secrets, Cantor raised $5.4 million while Brat raised $206,663. While Cantor spent nearly all of his haul ($5.1 million), Brat spent $122,793 for his entire campaign, which was less than what Cantor's campaign spent at Bobby Van's alone ($124,177).[continued]

These guys will just be moderates with no leader. There is no need to protest vote against them if Cantor isn't forming some RINO coalition with them. Boehner may look west for a new crew.

If you think Barack Obama has trouble dealing with House Republicans now, you haven't seen anything yetAsked his reaction last night to the stunning primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, an Obama administration official offered this: "Who?" That's how quickly the White House has forgotten Cantor, a thorn in the president's side from day one. Don't let the door hit you on... well, you know the rest. As the president famously reminded Cantor, "elections have consequences," a lesson the Virginia Republican surely knows this morning more than any other. But aside from his humiliating defeat — no sitting...

Former Rep. George Nethercutt, who pulled off his own dramatic unlikely Congressional victory 20 years ago unseating Speaker of the House Tom Foley, of Spokane, said Tuesday he could see parallels between his experience and that of David Brat. “It’s a message, as I look at it, to all members of the House: You’ve got to pay attention to what people at home are saying,” Nethercutt said. (SNIP) McMorris Rodgers has three opponents in the August primary: Republican Tom Horne, Democrat Joe Pakootas and Independent Dave Wilson. The two candidates with the most votes will face-off in November.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) failed to congratulate or even acknowledge Dave Brat in his concession speech last night. Neither did Cantor offer Brat his support in November's general election against his Democratic opponent, or call Brat to concede the race, according to Brat. "Cantor's concession speech did not mention Dave once," Brat's campaign manager Zach Werrell noted to Breitbart News.

WASHINGTON — David Brat, the man who derailed Representative Eric Cantor’s congressional career and aspirations to become speaker of the House, faced such long odds in his challenge to the No. 2 House Republican that he failed to win the backing of any of the major Tea Party groups that inspired his candidacy.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's primary loss means Congress will soon say goodbye to its only Jewish Republican. And not only that; it also means there will likely be no Republicans in Congress who profess to be anything other than a Christian. According to data collected by the Pew Forum at the start of the 113th Congress last year, the GOP conference was 69 percent Protestant, 25 percent Catholic, 4 percent Mormon and 1 percent Orthodox Christian. Cantor (Va.) was the only member of any other faith on the Republican side in either the House or the Senate -- out...

Don’t sleep. In a district that’s 20 percent black, if they played their cards right, Democrats could turn Rep. Cantor’s primary loss into a general election win. Pundits, prognosticators and backseat-driving know-it-alls are chatting up everything you need to know about House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) karma-driven primary loss Tuesday night, with politicos scrambling to understand David Brat: a once-puckish Tea Party upstart and Cantor twin with only $200,000 in the bank who managed to unseat the second most powerful cat in the House armed with $5 million plus. But, the Spidey sense should buzz after those third-eye folks...

Twenty-four hours ago, the Tea Party claimed responsibility for Dave Brat’s amazing victory over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Are you ready? Here it comes! ClapClapClapClapClapClap. I applaud you. You’ve managed to succeed in the Herculean and super-consequential task of replacing a Republican with a Republican. Yay.

Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, spent his career denouncing liberals, sucking up to the Tea Party, and doing everything possible to derail President Obama’s agenda. Despite this, Cantor was ousted Tuesday by a Republican challenger in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Cantor’s loss follows last week’s Mississippi Republican primary, in which Sen. Thad Cochran, another conservative, was edged out by a Tea Party opponent who’s expected to dispatch Cochran in a runoff. How do right-wingers like Cantor and Cochran lose to challengers even further on the right? The answer lies in the extremism of Republican primary voters. On June 2,...

Economics professor Dave Brat crushed House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary Tuesday night, in a campaign that was mostly about Cantor’s supporting amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens. This marks the first time a U.S. House majority leader has ever lost a primary election. His crushing defeat reinforces a central point: Whenever the voters know an election is about immigration, they will always vote against more immigration — especially amnesty.

As conservatives begin to wrap their heads around the shocking primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, at least one member of the coup to unseat Speaker John A. Boehner doesn’t think an open spot in leadership will strengthen Boehner’s hand come the 114th Congress. Just minutes after Cantor’s defeat was official on Tuesday night, Rep. Tim Huelskamp told CQ Roll Call that Cantor’s ouster “bodes well for an entire new leadership team.” The Kansas Republican, who hasn’t been quiet about his qualms with leadership, said it’s “too early to tell” exactly how this affects leadership races, “but, again,...

I reported the other day that the Young Guns Network, a group led by two former top aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is spending $100,000 in the primary between Sen. Richard Lugar and state treasurer Richard Mourdock in a bid to protect the Indiana incumbent - and here's what some of that mail looks like. A lit piece that the YG Network dropped focuses, as they'd said it would, on energy policy - but it is targeted to non-Republicans, as it reminds voters that Indiana's GOP primary is an open one in which Democrats and independents can vote.