Stunning upset: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor loses Republican primary back home

In what is nothing less than a political earthquake, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has lost the Republican primary for Virginia's 7th District, to Tea Party challenger and college professor Dave Brat.
Brat based much of his campaign on opposition to Cantor's work on comprehensive immigration reform. And now the voters back home have both rewarded Brat with a tremendous upset victory — and utterly overturned any previous narratives about the GOP establishment winning its struggles against Tea Party insurgency.
With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Brat has triumphed over Cantor with 56 percent of the vote, against Cantor's 44 percent, and the Associated Press has projected Brat as the winner. Just a few days ago, Cantor's campaign had an internal poll that showed the incumbent ahead of Brat by 34 points — a result that obviously has not come to pass.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And as it turns out, Democrats have a candidate for this sudden open seat in just the nick of time. Just yesterday, the district's Democratic committee nominated a little-known candidate, Jack Trammell — who is also a professor at the same school as Dave Brat, Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. So this all might make for a fun discussion at the next faculty meeting.
However, the fact remains that the district is strongly Republican, as Mitt Romney carried it in 2012 with 57 percent of the vote.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants