The second-highest ranking Republican in the US House of Representatives was beaten by a hard-right Tea Party candidate in a shock result in the latest Congressional primary elections last night.
In one of the most remarkable upsets in modern US politics, Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, was defeated by outsider Dave Brat, an economics professor, in a Congressional district near Richmond, the capital of Virginia, despite Mr Cantor outspending his Republican challenger and running negative adverts against him.
Mr Cantor, who was tipped to be a future speaker of the House, was seeking his seventh term in Congress in what was perceived to be a straightforward primary election as Republicans and Democrats pick their party candidates to fight the midterm elections in November.
His loss to the little-known Mr Brat represents one of the biggest victories for the Tea Party faction against the Republican establishment since it emerged as a force in American politics five years ago.
Winning by a margin of 56 per cent to 44 per cent, Mr Brat’s victory bucks a recent trend where Tea Party candidates were roundly defeated by establishment candidates in Republican primaries in what was interpreted as a decline in the faction’s power base.
Despite having just $200,000 (€146,000) in his election coffers compared with the House Majority Leader’s $5 million war-chest, the Tea Party candidate rallied Republican activists by attacking Mr Cantor’s support for immigration reform in a low-turnout election.
Mr Cantor, a lawyer, was first elected to the House in 2000 after serving nine years in Virginia's House of Delegates. Along with leading Republicans Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, he rallied the party to oppose President Barack Obama's agenda in 2009 and helped Republicans to win control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections.
He was expected to be the leading contender to replace John Boehner as speaker of the House over the coming years.
Responding to his loss last night, Mr Cantor said: “We need to focus our efforts as conservatives, as Republicans, on putting forth our conservative solutions so that they can help solve the problems for so many working middle-class families that may not have the opportunity that we have here.”
L Brent Bozell, chairman of ForAmerica, a conservative group critical of Mr Cantor throughout his campaign, described the House majority leader's loss as "an apocalyptic moment for the GOP establishment".
“The grassroots is in revolt and marching,” he said.
Mr Cantor’s defeat has repercussions for Irish interests in Washington, marking a setback for the immigration reform lobby and their hopes of new legislation paving the way for citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, including an estimated 50,000 Irish.
It spells the end of any comprehensive immigration reform Bill passing this year, given Republican opposition on the issue. In light of the defeat of one of his key supporters, Mr Boehner is unlikely to support an issue that has proved so divisive for the party.
A comprehensive immigration reform Bill passed the Democrat-controlled Senate last year but has stalled in the Republican-led House.
Mr Cantor’s loss will also leave any Republican candidate facing a conservative challenger reluctant to support an issue that rallied such opposition among the party’s grassroots. Immigration lobbyists had thought there might be a chance of new legislation being passed after the primary elections when Republican candidates have been selected.
Mr Brat accused Mr Cantor of backing an “amnesty for illegal immigrants” when he supported the legalisation of young illegal immigrants, but opposed a blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants.
In the November elections Mr Brat will face Jack Trammell, a Democrat who teaches at the same university as the Republican nominee, Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.
