Cantor Just 2nd Virginian to Quit Among 100+ to Lose US House Seat

Virginia U.S. Representatives have lost renomination or reelection bids more than 100 times since statehood but Cantor is just the second to subsequently resign and the first to do so after a failed renomination bid

Virginia Republican Eric Cantor’s announcement last week that he would resign from his seat on August 18th is the latest development in the ever-shortening political half-life of the former U.S. House Majority Leader.

Shortly after his historic primary defeat to Dave Brat in June in which he became the first majority leader to lose a renomination bid and the first GOP U.S. Representative from Virginia to lose a renomination bid since 1888 after 160 consecutive wins, Cantor announced he would step down from his leadership position – subsequently filled by California’s Kevin McCarthy.

But now Cantor is quitting Congress altogether with four months and 16 days left in his seventh term.

Cantor stated he was resigning so that his successor, presumably fellow GOPer Dave Brat, would “have a voice in what will be a very consequential lame-duck session” though some Republicans on the Hill said he simply could not bear serving out his term.

To be sure, many of the more than 400 U.S. Representatives to serve Virginia in the chamber have lost their seats since the 18th Century.

But how unusual is it for one to quit their job after doing so?

A Smart Politics analysis finds that Virginia U.S. Representatives have lost their renomination or reelection bids more than 100 times since statehood, but Eric Cantor is only the second of these to quit Congress and the first after losing his party’s nomination.

Since statehood, 413 men and women have been elected to the U.S. House from Virginia.

A total of 99 of these U.S. Representatives lost their party’s nomination or were defeated in the general election a total of 108 times. (Note: Several members had multiple stints in the chamber with nine losing reelection and/or renomination twice).

However, only Eric Cantor and one other Virginia U.S. Representative resigned after losing their seat – Republican Joel Broyhill in 1974.

Broyhill, however, resigned with just three days left in his term – a far cry from the 138 days remaining in Cantor’s term come August 18th.

Back in 1974, Broyhill was finishing his 11th term and had intended to retire, but was persuaded to run for a 12th by former colleague and then Vice President Gerald Ford.

Broyhill then lost his seat in the general election to Democrat Joseph Fisher during the post-Watergate Democratic landslide.

After his defeat, Representative Broyhill remained in office for nearly two months until resigning three days before the end of his term on December 31st along with nearly three-dozen members of Congress.

Cantor is actually one of many Virginia U.S. Representatives to resign from office, with 41, or 10 percent doing so over the past 225 years.

Approximately two-thirds of these (27) resigned after having been appointed, nominated, or elected to a different governmental post or office or having decided to campaign for a higher office.

Such notable congressmen include:

Federalist John Marshall, who resigned in his first term in June 1800 to become Secretary of State under John Adams. Marshall would later become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jacksonian Andrew Stevenson, who resigned as Speaker of the House in June 1834 during his seventh term after he was nominated to be Minister of United Kingdom by Andrew Jackson. The Senate blocked his appointment, though Stevenson would be appointed to the same post once again two years later and confirmed by the upper legislative chamber.

Others resignations include:

● Democrats Charles O’Ferrall (1893) and Claude Swanson (1906) left the House after being elected governor of Virginia while Democrats Colgate Darden (1941) and Thomas Stanley (1953) did so to campaign for governor (both won).

● Jeffersonian Republican Andrew Moore (1804) and Democrat Thomas Burch (1946) were appointed to the U.S. Senate and Jeffersonian Republicans James Pleasants (1819) and John Randolph (1825), Unionist John Carlile (1861), and Democrat Absalom Robertson (1946) were elected to the U.S. Senate.

● Democrat Thomas Gilmer (1844) was appointed Secretary of the Navy by John Tyler and Democrat Carter Glass (1918) was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by Woodrow Wilson.

Several other U.S. Representatives resigned after being appointed or elected to various judicial posts or appointed as U.S. Ministers to various nations.

As for the other Virginia U.S. Representatives to resign from office, two did so due to health afflictions:

● Jeffersonian Republican John Jackson had to resign in September 1810 due to being wounded in a duel with Federalist Joseph Pearson of North Carolina who shot him in the hip.

● Republican Daniel Slaughter resigned in November 1991 after suffering a series of minor strokes.

While three resigned mid-term to take up offers from business interests:

● Democrat Winder Harris quit Congress in September 1944 to become Vice President of the Shipbuilders’ Council of America

● Democrat Dave Satterfield resigned in February 1945 to become general counsel and executive director of the Life Insurance Association of America at New York City

● Democrat Clifton Woodrum resigned later that same year in December to accept the position of president of the American Plant Food Council, Inc.

And there were a few other odd resignations of note in Virginia history:

Democrat Joel Holleman announced he would resign if Whig William Henry Harrison carried his district in the 1840 presidential race. Harrison did, en route to his victory, and Holleman resigned that December.

Democrat Charles Carlin resigned at the end of his sixth term in March 1919, even though he had just been elected to a seventh term in the 1918 cycle.

Five others resigned for undisclosed or unknown reasons in the early 18th Century, but none had lost their renomination bids or been defeated at the ballot box.

Virginia U.S. Representatives Who Resigned Since Statehood

Compiled by Smart Politics with biographical information provided by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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