In one of the biggest House primary earthquakes of all time, GOP House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor lost renomination tonight to Randolph Macon College economics professor Dave Brat, 55 percent to 45 percent. Private polling taken in the last several weeks showed Cantor well ahead, but the race obviously closed quickly in the final stages. Cantor's leadership position, unwillingness to prolong last October's government shutdown, far-fetched attacks on Brat, and stylistic clash with Virginia's gun-owning, very conservative 7th CD all played a role in the "perfect storm" of base anger that engulfed him. These were problems all of Cantor's money and more couldn't really solve.Brat's win also speaks to the GOP primary electorate's distrust for the Republican leadership's flirtations with immigration reform. If an immigration bill wasn't already dead in the House, it is now. According to Virginia's sore loser election provision, Cantor cannot run as an independent in the November general election. The provision is somewhat ambiguous as to whether Cantor could mount a write-in bid. However, the presence of three other candidates on the ballot, including Democratic
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