Slingshot: The Defeat of Eric Cantor - Softcover

“This is a book that needed to be written. Eric Cantor’s defeat was not only shocking but it runs against everything we teach in our election courses. By extracting the lessons from Cantor’s defeat, Slingshot helps to inform our more general understanding of campaigns and elections. Bell, Meyer, and Gaddie skillfully walk us through the campaign explaining first why the Cantor defeat never should have happened and then why—seemingly against all odds—it did. The story powerfully captures the dynamic tension between policy-making and representation, and is a reminder than even in an age of polarized politics and nationalized election campaigns ‘all politics is local.’”

“This book does a great job of taking a remarkable incumbent defeat and embedding it into the greater framework of congressional elections scholarship. Its strengths are twofold: (1) greatly detailing an important, highly unusual, and historic incumbent defeat, and (2) placing this remarkable event within a body of scholarship that clearly explains why such an unlikely event was in fact very likely to occur. This book differentiates itself from other books because of the unique case study it evaluates.”

“The book is well written, easy to read, and will certainly hold your attention. The authors display considerable knowledge of the political science literature and a keen awareness of modern American politics.”

In this book, the authors take advantage of exceptional behind-the-scenes access to the Brat campaign to explain the challenger’s victory. They examine the essential need for elected officials to maintain strong support in their home districts and just how Cantor’s focus on climbing the party ranks in Washington contributed to his loss. They also show how local “rules of the game” —particularly voter mobilization in this case—affect elections, and they explore the continuing impact of the Tea Party and its role in the factionalism of current Southern politics.