Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority Whip from 2009 to 2011, and as House Majority Leader from 2011 to 2014.
Eric Cantor
John Boehner
Steny Hoyer
Roy Blunt
Roy Blunt
Kevin McCarthy
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Prior to serving in the House of Representatives, Cantor represented the 73rd district in the Virginia House of Delegates. His congressional district included most of the northern and western sections of Richmond, along with most of Richmond's western suburbs, and until redistricting in 2013 also portions of the Shenandoah Valley.
In June 2014, in his bid for reelection, Cantor lost the Republican primary to economics professor Dave Brat in an upset that greatly surprised political analysts. In response, Cantor announced his early resignation as House Majority Leader. Several weeks later, he announced his resignation from Congress, which took effect on August 18, 2014. Shortly thereafter, Cantor accepted a position as vice chairman of investment bank Moelis & Company.[1][2] At the time of his resignation, Cantor was the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress in its history and the only non-Christian Republican in either house.[3][4]
Early life, education, and career[edit]
Cantor, the second of three children, was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Mary Lee (née Hudes), a schoolteacher, and Eddie Cantor, who owned a real estate firm. His family emigrated from Russia, Romania, and Latvia in the late 1800s and early 1900s.[5][6] His father was the state treasurer for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign.[7] Cantor was raised in Conservative Judaism.[5]
He graduated from the Collegiate School, a co-ed private school in Richmond, in 1981. He enrolled at George Washington University (GW) in 1981; as a freshman he worked as an intern for House Republican Tom Bliley of Virginia, and was Bliley's driver in the 1982 campaign.[8] Cantor was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at GW and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1985.[9] He earned a Juris Doctor degree from William & Mary Law School in 1988, and received a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University in 1989.[10]
Cantor worked in his family's real estate business before being elected to Congress.[11]
Virginia House of Delegates[edit]
Cantor served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992 to January 1, 2001.[10] At various times he was a member of committees on Science and Technology, Corporation Insurance and Banking, General Laws, Courts of Justice, (co-chairman) Claims.[12][13] Cantor announced on March 14, 2000, that he would seek the seat in the United States House of Representatives that was being vacated by Tom Bliley. Cantor had chaired Bliley's reelection campaigns for the previous six years, and immediately gained the support of Bliley's political organization, as well as Bliley's endorsement later in the primary.[14] However, Cantor still faced an extremely spirited challenge in the primary and won that election by only a razor-thin margin of 263 votes out of over 40,000 cast. [15]
U.S. House of Representatives[edit]
Committee assignments[edit]
During his first term, Cantor was chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He has also served on the House Financial Services Committee and on the House International Relations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.
Party leadership[edit]
In 2002, weeks after winning a second term, Cantor was appointed by Republican Whip Roy Blunt to be Chief Deputy Republican Whip, the highest appointed position in the Republican caucus.[16]
Threats and campaign office incident[edit]
After the passage of the health care reform bill in March 2010, Cantor reported that somebody had shot a bullet through a window of his campaign office in Richmond, Virginia. A spokesman for the Richmond police later stated that the bullet was not intentionally fired at Cantor's office, saying that it was instead random gunfire, as there were no signs outside the office identifying the office as being Cantor's.[79]
Cantor responded to this by saying that Democratic leaders in the House should stop "dangerously fanning the flames" by blaming Republicans for threats against House Democrats who voted for the health care legislation.[80]
Cantor also reported that he had received threatening e-mails related to the passage of the bill.[81] In March 2010, Norman Leboon was arrested for making threats against Cantor and his family.[82]
In 2011, Cantor received two threatening phone calls from Glendon Swift who left "screaming, profanity-laden messages [that] stated that he was going to destroy Cantor, rape his daughter and kill his wife." Swift was sentenced in April 2012 to 13 months in federal prison.[83]
Personal life[edit]
Cantor met his wife, Diana Marcy Fine, on a blind date; and they were married in 1989.[12][28][87] They have three children, Evan, Jenna, and Michael.[88]
Diana Cantor is a lawyer, certified public accountant, and a managing director in a division of Emigrant Bank, a subsidiary of New York Private Bank & Trust Corp.[89] She founded, and from 1996 until 2008 was executive director of, the Virginia College Savings Plan (an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia). She was also chairman of the board of the College Savings Plans Network.[87][90][91] Unlike her husband, she is a lifelong Democrat, favors abortion rights, and supports same-sex marriage.[92]
Media appearances