House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s support of immigration amnesty fueled tea party candidate Dave Brat’s stunning victory in last week's Virginia’s GOP primary, a new poll shows.
The Silver Bullet survey reveals that 12 percent of voters said it was the "main reason" they voted for Cantor’s opponent while 40 percent said it was a "significant part" in their decision, a total of 52 percent.
The poll also showed that 26 percent of the voters "changed from Brat to Cantor in the final two weeks," following attacks on the congressman by conservative talk radio hosts Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin for Cantor’s support of immigration legislation, according to
Breitbart News.
In the two weeks before the June 10 primary, hordes of illegal immigrant children poured across the border in south Texas, and after being rounded up by Border Control agents they were sent to Arizona and military bases, outraging opponents of comprehensive immigration reform.
The ensuing humanitarian crisis involving the undocumented minors heightened fears of amnesty and helped Brat win the election, Breitbart News said, adding that the poll disproves claims by potential GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush and others that immigration was not a factor in Cantor’s loss
The research also found that 22 percent of Brat voters said "immigration/amnesty" was the primary reason they voted for him. The other issues influencing Brat voters included leadership (20 percent), government spending (23 percent), and privacy and government surveillance (2 percent).
The study also showed that tea party voters made up 55 percent of the electorate while Brat received 71 percent of their vote.
Silver Bullet conducted the survey on June 18 and its margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.
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