Dave Brat , an economics professor and former seminary student , pulled off the biggest political upset of the year by ousting the No . 2 House Republican Eric Cantor in a primary challenge on Tuesday night . `` This is the happiest moment , obviously , of my life , '' Brat told his supporters at a post-election event in Glen Allen , outside Richmond , on Tuesday night . `` The reason we won this campaign , there is just one reason , and that 's because dollars do not vote -- you do . '' Brat , who raised less than $ 300,000 to the House majority leader 's campaign war chest of $ 5.4 million , said , `` It 's not about David Brat winning tonight , it 's about returning the country to its principles . '' Just how surprising were the results ? A close ally of Brat 's told CNN shortly before the results were in that he was `` shocked '' and that senior campaign officials did n't believe he could pull in more than 40 % of the vote . Brat ended up besting Cantor 56 % -44 % . Cantor 's team included some veteran Virginia political hands while some of Brat 's top campaign staffers had n't worked on a major campaign before . Many political pundits were quick to credit the tea party for boosting Brat 's campaign , but his campaign did not get any significant financial support from conservative groups because they were funneling money into other primary challengers they believed had a better shot at beating GOP incumbents . Opinion : Who said the tea party was dead ? ' A shock on your hands ' In an interview a day before the vote , Brat made a prediction most political candidates make to try to energize their supporters , telling CNN , `` On Tuesday you 're going to have a shock on your hands . '' Brat joked that he expected to see a CNN van in his driveway to cover his victory on Wednesday . Brat 's main argument in the race was that Cantor lost touch with his conservative principles . He told CNN , `` My beef with Cantor is n't not a right- or left wing thing . '' Citing his expertise on economics , Brat said the GOP leader and other top congressional Republicans in Washington had set aside their `` free market principles '' when they backed the bailout legislation that helped bolster Wall Street banks after the fiscal crisis in 2008 . But the longshot candidate centered most of his attacks against Cantor on the issue of immigration , arguing that the majority leader 's support for small measures allowing some type of legal status for children of undocumented immigrants was `` amnesty . '' Much of the media coverage about the race focused on Brat 's attacks that Cantor was n't pushing the conservative position . Cantor worked to reassure Republicans that he would not allow any legislation to come up for a vote that provided `` amnesty . '' He sent out mailers to Republicans in the district with the message `` conservative Republican Eric Cantor is stopping the Obama Reid plan to give illegal aliens amnesty . '' But Brat told CNN the issue of `` amnesty '' resonated more than other issues like Obamacare and jobs `` because it shows Eric flip-flopping and being unprincipled . '' Jack Trammell is the Democrat who no longer has to face Eric Cantor . Ad spending . In addition to the top GOP leaders ' position on immigration , Brat repeatedly touted his experience as an economist , and criticized both political parties for ignoring proposals to address Medicare and Social Security . `` Neither side of the aisle will talk about the most important issues because that is going to involve pain . '' While he is a political neophyte , Brat has served on state and local government boards and was a president of the Virginia Association of Economists . Despite being the overwhelming favorite , there were signs that Cantor 's campaign sensed a threat . It spent more than $ 1 million on television and radio ads that attempted to paint Brat as a liberal . They noted that he was appointed to one of those boards by then-Democratic Virginia Gov . Tim Kaine . But Brat argued that Cantor 's aggressive ad spending did him the favor of boosting his name identification around the district at a time when he did n't have the resources to run his own ads . Brat , 49 , grew up in the Midwest and moved to Henrico in 1996 to begin teaching economics and ethics at Randolph-Macon College , a small liberal arts institution . He has chaired the school 's Economics and Business department for the past six years . He and his wife Laura have two children . Graham defeats conservative challengers , avoids runoff . Eric Cantor loses primary in big upset . Cantor 'earthquake ' rattles Capitol Hill .
Republican Dave Challenger beat heavily favored incumbent Eric Cantor . Challenger spent less than $ 300,000 compared to Bush 's $ 5 million . Challenger 's main argument was that Cantor had turned his back on conservative principles .