\"This is a book that needed to be written. Eric Cantorâs defeat was not only shocking but it runs against everything we teach in our election courses. By extracting the lessons from Cantorâs defeat, Slingshot helps to inform our more general understanding of campaigns \u0026 elections.\" -Professor Kirby Goidel, Texas A\u0026M University Incumbents donâ²t lose. So how did nationally prominent House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lose a primary battle to college professor David Brat, an unknown political rookie? In Slingshot: The Defeat of Eric Cantor, authors Lauren Cohen Bell, David Elliot Meyer and Ronald Keith Gaddie take advantage of exceptional behind-the-scenes access to the Brat campaign to explain the challengerâs victory. They examine the essential need for elected officials to maintain strong support in their home districts and just how Cantorâs focus on climbing the party ranks in Washington contributed to his loss. They also show how local \"rules of the game\" âparticularly voter mobilization in this caseâaffect elections, and they explore the continuing impact of the Tea Party and its role in the factionalism of current Southern politics. Â
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