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Tweetfest: Eric Cantor and the death of the Jewish GOP

(RNS) House Majority Leader Eric Cantor -- the only Republican Jewish member of Congress -- lost his primary. The Twitterverse responds.
Tweetfest: Eric Cantor and the death of the Jewish GOP
Rep. Eric Cantor lost his bid for reelection, leaving the House with no Jewish Republican members. Photo courtesy of Eric Cantor's Flickr account
Lauren Markoe

WASHINGTON (RNS) Are there still Jews left in Congress? Yes, but soon, none of them will be Republican.

Rep. Eric Cantor lost his bid for reelection, leaving the House with no Jewish Republican members. Photo courtesy of Eric Cantor's Flickr account

Rep. Eric Cantor lost his bid for reelection, leaving the House with no Jewish Republican members. Photo courtesy of Eric Cantor’s Flickr account

In a stunning upset, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor — the only Republican Jewish member of Congress — lost his primary Tuesday (June 11) to Tea Party candidate David Brat. There are still Jews in Congress: 11 Democratic Jewish senators, one Independent Jewish senator and 22 Democratic Jewish House members.


Among non-Tea Party Republicans and Jewish Republicans,  there is much tsuris — to use a good Yiddish word — over Cantor’s loss. But 70 percent of Jewish Americans are either Democrats or lean Democratic, according to a 2013 Pew Center study. Though he is the second-highest ranking member of the House, conservative Cantor does not enjoy the support of a broad fan base of his co-religionists.

Most analysts say that Cantor lost because he supported immigration reform or because his leadership duties shifted his focus away from his district constituents, the people who decide whether he remains in Congress. Here’s a sampling  what the Twitterverse had to say about Cantor’s falling star, beginning with Matthew Brooks, head of the Republican Jewish Coalition:

https://twitter.com/andreastonez/status/476519939625345024

https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/476535389562621954

 

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