In his concession speech shortly after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was defeated in the Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District the top House Republican was brutally honest.
“Obviously we came up short,” Cantor said.
With 83 percent reporting and the race called against Cantor tea party challenger David Brat had 55.4 percent to Cantor with 44.6 percent of the vote.
“I know there’s a lot of long faces here tonight and it’s disappointing, sure,” Cantor continued. “But I believe in this country, I believe there’s opportunity around the next corner for all of us. So I look forward to continue to fight with all of you for the things that we believe in for the conservative cause because those solutions of ours are the answers to the problems that so many people are facing today.”
The closest historical analogy is Tom Foley, a sitting House Speaker who lost re-election in 1994. Prior to that, the last sitting speaker was Galusha A. Grow in 1862.