By Lynn R. Mitchell
The libertarians-tea partiers of the 7th Congressional District of Virginia didn’t want Eric Cantor to represent them anymore. It looks as if they did him a favor because, as we all suspected, he landed on his feet.
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With gratitude to Congressman Eric Cantor
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Monday marked the last day of Congressman Eric Cantor’s time in the U.S. House of Representatives. As he moves into the private sector and on to what will surely be a life that will be equally as successful as his time in Congress while representing the citizens of the 7th Congressional District, I wanted to take a moment to express the gratitude of those of us who are appreciative of his leadership in the Commonwealth. He worked his way to the House Majority Leader — the first time a Virginian has held that position — and for his phenomenal success in recruiting Republican candidates and fundraising not only for the 7th but for all of Virginia, we say thank you.
Sadly, Virginians will soon realize what they have lost by losing the Majority Leader whose power has now gone to California. It takes work and time and connections to build up to positions in power. This will be a case of you don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.
But with the classiness reminiscent of the Bush family, Congressman Cantor has left with a dignity that many in today’s politics don’t recognize nor do they practice.
Best wishes to Congressman Cantor and many thanks to one of the hardest working representatives ever for the citizens of Virginia. We will see you down the road….
Mississippi GOP says no to McDaniel’s election challenge, Cuccinelli group funds McDaniel challenge
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Mississippi’s GOP has said no to Chris McDaniel’s request to question the result of the June 24 primary that declared U.S Senator Thad Cochran as the winner. Jane Timm writes at MSNBC (see Mississippi GOP won’t hear McDaniel election challenge):
“Our 52-member volunteer Republican State Executive Committee has been asked to spend just five hours listening to legal arguments and then overturn a United States Senate primary in which over 360,000 Mississippians cast votes,” Nosef said in a statement sent to msnbc. “It is neither prudent nor possible in a single day for any political committee to process and review the significant amount of complex evidence necessary to make such a decision, and attempting to do so would be prejudicial to both candidates.”
The candidate-who-cannot-let-it-go wants the Mississippi GOP to declare him the winner. But his chances look slim, according to election law expert Rick Hasen:
Congressman Cantor to resign from Congress August 18
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Thursday was Congressman Eric Cantor’s last day as majority leader and on Friday he announced his resignation from Congress effective August 18. He explained why he had asked the governor for a special election (see Cantor to resign from Congress on Aug. 18 by Markus Schmidt):
Cantor said he has asked Gov. Terry McAuliffe to call a special election for his district that coincides with the general election on Nov. 4.
By having a special election in November, the winner would take office immediately, rather than in January with the next Congress.
“That way he will also have seniority, and that will help the interests of my constituents (because) he can be there in that consequential lame-duck session,” Cantor said.
Cantor’s resignation marks the end of a successful 14-year congressional run that included his role as House majority leader for more than three years and the prospect of becoming the next speaker of the House.
Congressman Eric Cantor says goodbye, announces resignation from Congress
By Lynn R. Mitchell
In a Friday op-ed, Congressman Eric Cantor shared his joy at serving constituents in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (see Serving Virginians has been my highest honor) and also shared his decision to step away from Congress on August 18:
It has been the highest honor of my professional life to serve the people of Virginia’s 7th District in Congress. That is why it is with tremendous gratitude and a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from Congress, effective Aug. 18.
Video: Remembering the leadership of the Honorable Eric Cantor, Majority Leader
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Eric Cantor, Virginia’s congressman who rose to become the second most powerful Republican in Washington, steps down today from his role as majority leader.
Thank you, Leader Cantor, for your steadfast conservative leadership for the Republican Party.
Stephen Moore: ‘The underappreciated Eric Cantor’ … unabashed conservative leader
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Mr. Cantor has been attacked from all sides by political Monday-morning quarterbacks – for supposed arrogance, for ignoring his constituents, for being too moderate, too pro-business, not free-market enough, weak on the border issues, and so on.
… now that it is fashionable to treat Mr. Cantor as the piñata for everything that is wrong in Washington, I’d like to take a moment to do something no one else has done: Defend him.
Economist Stephen Moore does just that as he proceeds to list the many accomplishments of Majority Leader Cantor during his years in conservative leadership (see The underappreciated Eric Cantor):
Breakdown of how Fred Gruber wanted to spend 7th Congressional District money
By Lynn R. Mitchell
As misinformation continues to circulate concerning the 7th Congressional District Committee’s disbursement of funds, perhaps it’s a good idea to look at it — again — and see what Gruber wanted to do with those funds and why the committee, with years of Republican volunteerism and leadership under its belt, voted to donate the money in more productive ways.
The correct information has been provided in many locations but there are those who are pushing their own narratives to cover personal agendas so here it is again, this time more in depth.
When the call for the June 7th District meeting went out, “budget” was on the agenda but no budget was provided pre-meeting by Gruber. The following information is provided from the Virginia GOP Now newsletter:
GOP 7th Congressional District donates $$ to help statewide candidates
By Lynn R. Mitchell
After Wednesday night’s 7th Congressional District meeting, much misinformation has been circulating Virginia from those who disapproved of the actions taken by the majority of the committee.
The 7th under the leadership of former chairman Linwood Cobb, one of the most effective district chairmen in the state, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor was excellent at raising hundreds of thousands of dollars used to fund Republican candidates throughout the 7th and the rest of the Commonwealth. They were a team that helped grow the party and held two of the largest Republican events in the state each year with the Republican Roundup that drew thousands of attendees, and Eric Cantor’s annual breakfast that had 1,700 attending in 2014.
Tea party activist posting home/cell phone numbers on Facebook is going too far
By Lynn R. Mitchell
How far are tea party activists willing to go against those they oppose? Obviously, from a post Thursday on Facebook, as far as posting a Republican Committee chairwoman’s home and cell phone numbers publicly on Facebook.
Is that going too far?
The post from the well-known Facebook agitator: Continue reading
‘Finding the next Eric Cantor: Rising Jewish Republicans’
By Lynn R. Mitchell
After tea partiers and Libertarians primaried U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the 7th Congressional District, causing Virginians to lose their most powerful voice in D.C., Dmitriy Shapiro, political reporter at the Washington Jewish Week, observed (see Finding the next Eric Cantor: Rising Jewish Republicans):
With House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s stunning loss last week, the highest-ranking Jewish Republican politician has suddenly been booted from power.
Continue reading
Poll: Cantor won among Republicans, lost among ‘others’ including Dems
By Lynn R. Mitchell
(See also Kurt Michael’s political cartoon, Evolution of the GOP.)
Congressman Eric Cantor was defeated in the June 10th Republican Primary by voters other than Republicans.
While the Congressman won past Republican primaries with a comfortable margin, he was beaten by a large turnout of first-time primary voters, Independents, and Democrats. The findings by McLaughlin and Associates help to confirm a Washington Post story by Democrat Brian Umana who claimed to work with tea party leaders to cultivate outside voters to defeat the Majority Leader (see Democrats help tea party down Eric Cantor).
While political pundits are still coming up with a dozen reasons why Cantor lost, the real story is in the numbers that tell a blunt truth that could come back to bite Republicans in future elections. Tea party members worked with Democrats and libertarians to solicit first-time voters and non-Republicans into an open Republican Primary to vote against the solid Republican candidate.
Update: More proof that Democrats crossed over … this from Virginia Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett: “Post primary polling shows Dave Brat won by 76 points (88-12) among primary voters that favor Obamacare. Cantor won 52-48 among others. Looks like the Democrats did do it after all. Good work 7th CD Dems!”
Cantor loss: It is time for voter registration by party
By Lynn R. Mitchell
If the June 10th Republican Primary in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District had involved only Republican voters, Eric Cantor would be continuing as Majority Leader (and possibly preparing to become Speaker), and Dave Brat would be planning fall classes at Randolph-Macon.
In a recent poll, Dave Brat lost among Republicans 51 percent to 49 percent but won among “other” voters 71 percent to 29 percent. Those non-Republican voters flipped the race and proved true a Washington Post piece written by a Democratic operative claiming to have coordinated with the tea party to defeat Eric Cantor (see Democrats help take down Eric Cantor).
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