Eric Cantor is the first House Majority Leader to lose an election since 1899. He spent $5 million on his campaign for the Republican nomination. His opponent, economics professor Dave Brat, spent $122,000.
Cantor's campaign spent more money at steakhouses over the past year ($168,000) than Brat spent on his ($122,000).
But more important is where Cantor got his money (certainly not from unions). Politico reports Cantor's donors were...
...a who’s who of Beltway power players. Once seen as a top contender for House speaker, he had the support of 377 political action committees representing almost every major corporate and special interest from all sectors of the economy, including airlines, telecom, energy, food, and manufacturing groups.
Here's what Brat had: A dislike of criminal bankers. The New Republic reported,
Speaking last month before the Mechanicsville Tea Party, Brat tied Cantor to Wall Street and big business, whom he blamed partly for the financial crisis. “All the investment banks in the New York and D.C.—those guys should have gone to jail. Instead of going to jail, they went on Eric’s Rolodex, and they are sending him big checks,” he said. Brat echoed these charges in a radio interview. “The crooks up on Wall Street and some of the big banks—I’m pro business, I’m just talking about the crooks—they didn’t go to jail they are on Eric’s Rolodex,” he said.Looks like there may be more incumbents out of work in November.
