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Within what seemed like minutes of Eric Cantor’s defeat Tuesday night, Democrats began fundraising. Now a Democratic candidate is using Eric Cantor to taint his Republican opponent and he probably won’t be the only Democrat to do this.

Democratic candidate for Congress Michael Eggman, who is challenging Rep. Jeff Denham in CA-10, released the following statement after the Tea Party took out Eric Cantor:

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“Last night’s results were a resounding rebuke to a career politician who talked out of both sides of his mouth on immigration reform – Congressman Jeff Denham has been put on notice. Instead of demanding a vote on comprehensive immigration reform, Congressman Jeff Denham has let his key allies like Eric Cantor block it from coming to the floor all while continuing to allow him to pad his campaign coffers – a shameful act of hypocrisy. As a farmer, I know that comprehensive immigration reform will boost our Valley economy, offer businesses and workers the certain they need and reduce the deficit. As your representative, I’ll always put people before partisan politics.”

Eggman has called Denham out before, urging him to support real immigration reform. The issue appears to be more than just rhetoric for Eggman, according to his campaign site, “His mother’s family immigrated here from Mexico while his father’s family came to California to escape the Dust Bowl in the 1920s.”

In October of 2013, he called Denham out for not supporting for H.R. 15, which was introduced in the House. It was based on a bipartisan Senate bill, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated would reduce the deficit by $850 billion. In March, the Democrats’ immigration bill was estimated by the CBO to save about $900 billion over the next 20 years.

Cantor’s PAC “Every Republican is Crucial” has given $30,000 to Denham over the last four years. It looks like Eric Cantor’s PAC is going to be used as poison against all who took from the reject’s well.

Taking money from Eric Cantor’s PAC might provide Democrats with some ammo of their own, akin to Republican chants of “Obama, Pelosi, Reid!” A domino effect to the shocking Cantor rejection? Maybe. But only time will tell. One thing is for sure: It’s certainly not what the beltway was expecting in 2014.



Image: Michael Eggman, via his campaign site