House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is thrilled that her Republican counterpart Eric Cantor lost to little-known tea party candidate Dave Brat because it’s turned the midterm elections into "a whole new ball game."
"Eric Cantor has long been the face of House Republicans’ extreme policies, debilitating dysfunction, and manufactured crises," the California Democrat said in a statement,
according to Talking Points Memo.
"Tonight is a major victory for the tea party as they yet again pull the Republican Party further to the radical right. As far as the midterm elections are concerned, it’s a whole new ballgame."
Democrats face long odds of winning back the House in the 2014 elections. Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel say that Cantor’s defeat has at least opened the door for Democrats to win several competitive seats in November fueled by the fear of having a right-wing government in power,
according to Politico.
"We will see [Republicans] run further to the far right with the tea party striking fear into the heart of every Republican on the ballot and cementing the dysfunction that has paralyzed this Congress and prevented them from taking any action to help middle-class families," said Rep. Israel of New York.
The news of Cantor’s upset loss in Virginia’s 7th district also had other House Democrats rubbing their hands with glee, according to
The New York Times.
Referring to the right-wing faction of the GOP, California Rep. Jared Huffman tweeted, "Cantor loses primary: inmates are now fully running the asylum!"
Colorado Rep. Jared Polis announced Cantor’s election result to his followers in a Twitter message before it was official, saying, "It looks like House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has lost his re-election in the GOP primary in Virginia today!"
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York noted in a tweet that losing Cantor from the House is a double-edged sword, with vulnerable Republicans who support bipartisan immigration reform facing defeat in the midterms for their stance.
"Tonight proved the GOP has two paths on immigration reform: take a mainstream stance and win or play both sides and walk the path to defeat," Schumer tweeted.
Tea party member are fiercely opposed to any immigration law that gives amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants.
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