{"id":6776,"date":"2014-08-01T21:42:35","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T21:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=6776"},"modified":"2014-08-01T21:42:35","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T21:42:35","slug":"rep-cantor-to-resign-from-house-seat-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=6776","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Cantor to resign from House seat in August"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eric-cantor-20\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rep. Cantor to resign from House seat in August<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Associated Press<\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. \u2014 After a stunning primary election loss, former Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Friday that he will resign his seat in the House months earlier than expected.<\/p>\n

The congressman will step down Aug. 18 and has asked Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to call a special election to enable his successor to take office immediately, Cantor said in a statement, a day after stepping down from his leadership post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been the highest honor of my professional life to serve the people of Virginia\u2019s 7th District in Congress,\u201d Cantor said. \u201cThat is why it is with tremendous gratitude and a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move \u2014 first reported in the Richmond Times-Dispatch \u2014 came as a surprise, as the Republican had previously said he would serve out his term and try to help GOP candidates win elections this fall.<\/p>\n

McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said Friday that the governor\u2019s office was reviewing the request for a special election.<\/p>\n

According to House rules, Cantor\u2019s office will stay open and his staffers will be able to continue to handle constituent services under supervision of the House clerk.<\/p>\n

Cantor, a major fundraiser with close ties to big business and Wall Street, did not say in his statement or a guest column in the newspaper what he plans to do after leaving Congress. He said only that he wants to advocate as a private citizen \u201cfor the conservative solutions to the problems we face that will secure our nation\u2019s greatness and provide a better life for all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cantor said a special election on Nov. 4, the same day as the scheduled regular election, would give the winner seniority rather than waiting until January to take office with the new Congress. He also noted that special election on the same day as the scheduled general election would not cost taxpayers extra.<\/p>\n

Cantor lost to Dave Brat, an underfunded, tea party-backed opponent, in the June Republican primary. The 7th District is heavily Republican and Brat is considered the early favorite against Democrat Jack Trammell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vitally important that the constituents have a clear and strong voice during the consequential lame duck session of Congress,\u201d Cantor said. \u201cI believe and hope that voice will be Dave Brat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brat, who was highly critical of Cantor during the primary campaign, thanked his former opponent for his endorsement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time one has to sacrifice to be an elected official is enormous, and he has sacrificed a great deal to serve the people,\u201d Brat said in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n

Cantor\u2019s resignation could force the candidates to devote some time during the campaign to preparing to take office immediately. Incoming congressman usually have more than two months to prepare to take office, including making staffing decisions.<\/p>\n

Brat, who appeared caught off guard after defeating Cantor in June and spent several days after the election at home avoiding reporters, will be \u201cready to serve immediately,\u201d according to a spokesman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe campaign will move forward according to plan,\u201d campaign spokesman Brian Gottstein said.<\/p>\n

Trammell, who has kept a low-key profile since Cantor\u2019s defeat, said through a spokeswoman that Cantor\u2019s announcement hasn\u2019t altered his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil I know more, this doesn\u2019t change my strategy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cantor, 51, is a seven-term House veteran who before his defeat had been seen as a potential rival \u2014 and likely successor \u2014 to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Cantor appointed to his first leadership position in 2002, when he was named chief deputy whip of the party and became the highest-ranking Jewish Republican in Washington.<\/p>\n

Though he had a conservative voting record, he was distrusted by some tea party supporters who suspected he might be too eager to reach compromise on immigration legislation.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Cantor to resign from House seat in August By Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. \u2014 After a stunning primary election loss, former Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Friday that he will resign his seat in the House months earlier than … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}