Reports of the Tea Party’s death have been highly exaggerated. The Republican Establishment and (the United States Chamber of Commerce) suffered a humiliating defeat in Virginia 7th Congressional District, as Eric Cantor lost his primary race to David Brat, in a race that was not even close, with over 55.6 percent of the vote to Cantor’s 44.4, according to preliminary results at this time of writing.
Brat was a Tea Party challenger who has defied the establishment and media cant that holds that the Tea Party is on the way out. An intelligent, articulate, and principled conservative, Brat has an excellent chance of winning the general election in a Republican-leaning district. Should the Establishment goad Cantor into a write-in campaign, that could conceivably hand the seat to the Democrats. But so far Cantor has not given any indication of such a move being in prospect.