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Slingshot
The Defeat of Eric Cantor

Political Rookie Defeats House Majority Leader in Primary Bid! Learn how David Brat bested Eric Cantor in Slingshot: The Defeat of Eric Cantor



November 2015 | 224 pages | CQ Press
“This is a book that needed to be written. Eric Cantor’s defeat was not only shocking but it runs against everything we teach in our election courses. By extracting the lessons from Cantor’s defeat, Slingshot helps to inform our more general understanding of campaigns & elections.”
-Professor Kirby Goidel, Texas A&M University

Incumbents don't lose. So how did nationally prominent House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lose a primary battle to college professor David Brat, an unknown political rookie? In Slingshot: The Defeat of Eric Cantor, authors Lauren Cohen Bell, David Elliot Meyer and Ronald Keith Gaddie take advantage of exceptional behind-the-scenes access to the Brat campaign to explain the challenger’s victory. They examine the essential need for elected officials to maintain strong support in their home districts and just how Cantor’s focus on climbing the party ranks in Washington contributed to his loss. They also show how local “rules of the game” —particularly voter mobilization in this case—affect elections, and they explore the continuing impact of the Tea Party and its role in the factionalism of current Southern politics.  
 

 
Chapter 1: The Cantor Case in Context
Journalists versus Political Scientists

 
Placing Cantor’s Defeat Into Context

 
Incumbent Defeats

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 2: Eric Cantor and the Giant Slayer
June 10, 2014—Primary Election Night in Virginia

 
When Leaders Lose

 
Virginia and the South

 
The Virginia 7th & Redistricting

 
The Cast of Characters

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 3: David and Goliath
Eric Cantor

 
David Brat

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 4: Lost Between DC and Richmond
Life on Capitol Hill

 
The Three Phases of a Career

 
Cantor’s Early Years (2001-04)

 
Cantor’s mid-career years (2005-2010)

 
Cantor’s final two terms (2011-2014)

 
The Importance of Money

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 5: The Primary Contest
Cantor’s Missteps

 
The Brat Campaign

 
Election Day

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 6: The Aftermath
The Media (And Everyone Else) Missed the Signs

 
It’s (not) Immigration, Stupid

 
Will He or Won’t He?

 
The Majority Leader Steps Down

 
Cantor’s Resignation

 
The Consequences

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 7: Conclusions
Lesson #1: Homestyles Matter

 
Lesson #2: The Inadequacy of First Impressions

 
Lesson #3: The Other Candidate Can Be Strategic

 
Lesson #4: The New Southern Factionalism

 
Lesson #5: Campaigns Matter

 
Lesson #6: The Big Sort and the Danger of the New Homogeneity

 
Lesson #7: The Tea Party is Not Monolithic

 
Lesson #8: Leadership and Risk

 
Lesson #9: Lessons for Political Scientists and the Pundit Class

 
Parting Thoughts

 
 
Epilogue: The 2014 General Election and a Look Toward 2016
Brat vs. Trammell

 
Brat’s Early Career in Congress

 
A Look Ahead to 2016

 
Parting Thoughts

 

“This is a book that needed to be written. Eric Cantor’s defeat was not only shocking but it runs against everything we teach in our election courses. By extracting the lessons from Cantor’s defeat, Slingshot helps to inform our more general understanding of campaigns and elections. Bell, Meyer, and Gaddie skillfully walk us through the campaign explaining first why the Cantor defeat never should have happened and then why—seemingly against all odds—it did. The story powerfully captures the dynamic tension between policy-making and representation, and is a reminder than even in an age of polarized politics and nationalized election campaigns ‘all politics is local.’”

Professor Kirby Goidel
Texas A&M University

“This book does a great job of taking a remarkable incumbent defeat and embedding it into the greater framework of congressional elections scholarship. Its strengths are twofold: (1) greatly detailing an important, highly unusual, and historic incumbent defeat, and (2) placing this remarkable event within a body of scholarship that clearly explains why such an unlikely event was in fact very likely to occur. This book differentiates itself from other books because of the unique case study it evaluates.”

Professor Seth McKee
Texas Tech University

“The book is well written, easy to read, and will certainly hold your attention. The authors display considerable knowledge of the political science literature and a keen awareness of modern American politics.”

Professor Gibbs Knotts
College of Charleston
Key features

KEY FEATURES:

  • Author David Elliot Meyer was granted exceptional, behind-the-scenes access to the Brat campaign, allowing this perfect storm of voter discontent and election strategy failure to be told in remarkable detail.
  • By bringing social science to bear on the political schädenfreude that was the coverage Eric Cantor’s fall, the book looks at why so many of the pre-election analyses offered were just plain wrong and elucidates the reasons why politicians lose.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1


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