Some conservatives are asking for a delay in the race to replace Eric Cantor as House majority leader over disagreements on immigration reform.
While Cantor was attacked for supporting "amnesty" in the final weeks of the campaign, Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine says it wasn't a deciding factor in his primary loss.
“You know, Virginians sometimes don’t want you to be too Washington. I think it was explained more than that. I think immigration was really a non-factor in the outcome. I live across the street from Eric’s district. I know the district very well, I don’t think immigration was much of a factor at all.”
Minnesota's Michelle Bachmann is reading it differently. She’s now accusing GOP leaders of being tone deaf and stacking the deck towards establishment candidates to replace Cantor. “That was the result of the election in Eric Cantor’s district. People do not want a leader who supports amnesty.”
Cantor isn't stepping down until the end if July, but Republicans are voting for his replacement next week. Kevin McCarthy of California and Pete Sessions of Texas announced their campaigns to replace Cantor yesterday afternoon.
That smells fishy to Iowa Congressman Steve King who says the leadership race is rigged. “They had been given a head start. They were out on the track and run a lap or two. We were gathered together at the starting line to hear the announcement that there was going to be a race and when it would start for us. Which was when we walked out of that room.”
King and Bachmann are now trying to rally support to push the election back…becoming yet another thorn in the side of Republican leaders still reeling from the shock of Cantor’s loss.
