Eric Cantor Resigns

Tea Party stalwarts helped cook Eric Cantor’s immigration goose. Now the heat needs to be turned up under Boehner!

Republicans were in the grip of an intense power battle on Wednesday as rival factions in in the House of Representatives, which the party controls, jockeyed to replace the outgoing majority leader Eric Cantor.

Cantor, whose defeat in a primary Tuesday stunned the political establishment, announced in a Wednesday afternoon press conference that he plans to stand down as majority leader before the end of July.

“Growing up in the Jewish faith … you learn a lot about individual setbacks. You learn that each setback is an opportunity, and that there’s always optimism for the future,” he said. “And while I may have suffered a personal setback last night, I couldn’t be more optimistic about the future of this country.”

Even before news of Cantor’s departure leaked, the battle to succeed him was under way, laying bare the deep fissures tearing the GOP apart.

Cantor could technically have held onto his role – the second most senior Republican position in the House – until his term ends in December, but his defeat at the hands of a virtually unknown candidate left his credibility in tatters.

David Brat, an economics professor at a local college, beat Cantor for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s seventh congressional district on Tuesday. Read more here.