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| US House majority leader Eric Cantor loses primary to Tea Party challenger | US House majority leader Eric Cantor loses primary to Tea Party challenger |
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| The House majority leader, Eric Cantor, has lost the Republican nomination for his seat in Virginia, in a shock primary election defeat that may prove the biggest political upset of the year. | The House majority leader, Eric Cantor, has lost the Republican nomination for his seat in Virginia, in a shock primary election defeat that may prove the biggest political upset of the year. |
| The second most senior Republican in the House, who was tipped to take over from the speaker, John Boehner, was defeated in the surprise result by the Tea Party candidate David Brat. | |
| With more than three-quarters of precincts reporting by shortly after 8pm, Associated Press predicted that Brat would comfortably take the seat, almost certainly forcing Cantor out of his position as a Washington powerbroker for the party. | |
| It is possible, though unlikely, that Cantor could run as write-in candidate for the relatively safe Republican House seat in Virginia’s 8th district, which neighbours Richmond. | |
| His defeat by Brat, a relatively unknown economics professor, will send shockwaves through a party leadership that thought it had survived the 2014 primary election with relatively limited damage from the Tea Party. | |
| The clash between mainstream Republican leaders in Washington and more conservative Tea Party rivals has dominated US politics in recent years, leading to the government shutdown last year. | The clash between mainstream Republican leaders in Washington and more conservative Tea Party rivals has dominated US politics in recent years, leading to the government shutdown last year. |
| The decision by Boehner and Cantor to face down the Tea Party wing was thought to have taken the momentum out of the upstart movement and a number of mainstream Senate incumbents had seen off recent primary challenges from the right. | |
| Cantor, who was already seen as among the more conservative members of the House leadership, had been widely expected to win his primary comfortably and had heavily outspent his opponent with a relatively negative campaign pointing out Brat’s lack of experience. | |
| But Brat successfully criticised Cantor’s support for immigration reform and financial compromise efforts such as extending the debt ceiling and budget authority – factors that are likely to send a chill through attempts to bridge the already deep divide between Republicans and Democrats in Washington. | |
| Speaking as the official results showed Brat ahead by 55% to 45%, Cantor told supporters in a Richmond hotel ballroom: “I know there’s a lot of long faces here tonight. It’s disappointing, sure. But I believe in this country. I believe there’s opportunity around the next corner for all of us.” | |
| Internal polling by Cantor’s team ahead of the election had shown him ahead by some 34%. | |
| A spokeswoman for House Democrats claimed on Tuesday evening that the result showed Republican voters were rejecting the House Republican agenda. | |
| Virginia's rejection of Eric Cantor is a rejection of House Republicans' agenda. #VA07 |