boneyard bill
Veteran Member
Just as establishment Republicans were gloating over their victories over the Tea Party, they have suddenly been faced with two stunning upsets. The first was in Mississippi where the Tea Party candidate, Chris McDaniel edged out incumbent Senator Thad Cochran in the first round of the Senate primary. McDaniel fell .4% short of the 50% mark, however, so Cochran still has a chance in the run-off, but challengers are usually favored in such circumstances.
But far more stunning was the defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, by a little-known, Tea Party backed college professor. David Brat rolled up an impressive 55% of the vote against Cantor in a race that, apparently, Cantor expected to win even up to election night.
Cantor was expected to succeed Boehner as Speaker of the House and was generally considered to be a bit more conservative than the Boehner, but apparently it wasn't conservative enough for his Virginia constituents. Then again, this could be a straw in the wind for all candidates of either party who are too closely identified with the Washington establishment.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/...y-election-results-virginia-107683.html?hp=t1
But far more stunning was the defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, by a little-known, Tea Party backed college professor. David Brat rolled up an impressive 55% of the vote against Cantor in a race that, apparently, Cantor expected to win even up to election night.
It wasn’t enough that Eric Cantor spent $1 million in the weeks leading up to the election, when his primary opponent hardly had $100,000 in his campaign coffers.
It didn’t matter that the House majority leader, 51, branded Dave Brat a liberal hack, and himself as the guardian of the Republican creed. On Tuesday night, Cantor, who was swept into the majority leader’s suite in a tea party wave, was swept out by the same movement.
Cantor conceded the race around 8:25 p.m. — shortly after the Associated Press pronounced Cantor’s 13-year political career at least temporarily over. With nearly 98 percent of precincts reporting, Brat had 55 percent of the vote, while Cantor had 44 percent. People close to Cantor said internal polls showed him hovering near 60 percent in the runup to the race
Cantor was expected to succeed Boehner as Speaker of the House and was generally considered to be a bit more conservative than the Boehner, but apparently it wasn't conservative enough for his Virginia constituents. Then again, this could be a straw in the wind for all candidates of either party who are too closely identified with the Washington establishment.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/...y-election-results-virginia-107683.html?hp=t1