“This is one of the most stunning upsets in modern American political history,” said Larry Sabato, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “This is the base rebelling against the GOP leadership in Washington as represented by Eric Cantor.”
“I’m as stunned as anybody,” Sabato said. “I’ve yet to find one person nationally or in the state outside the Brat circle who thought Cantor would be beaten.”
The 7th District long has been reliably Republican, but Brat tapped into tea party and Libertarian discontent with Cantor on issues such as the debt ceiling and immigration.
On May 10, Republicans in the 7th District narrowly defeated Cantor’s handpicked party committee chairman. Linwood Cobb’s loss to Fred Gruber was the latest and freshest measure of discontent with the establishment among party activists from across the entire district.
via David Brat stuns House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in GOP primary – Latest News – TimesDispatch.com.
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