The PPP poll finds that Cantor was deeply unpopular in his district. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Poll: Immigration didn't doom Cantor

Opponents of immigration reform seized on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s shocking primary defeat Tuesday night as a clear referendum against a sweeping overhaul – particularly one that includes so-called “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants.

Not so fast – at least according to one new poll.


Democrats are making the case that it was Cantor himself – not immigration – that dealt a powerful blow to the one-time rising Republican star’s political career. And they are releasing new data on Wednesday to back up their argument.

About 72 percent of registered voters in Cantor’s district polled on Tuesday said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” support immigration reform that would secure the borders, block employers from hiring those here illegally, and allow undocumented residents without criminal backgrounds to gain legal status – three key tenets of an overhaul, according to a poll by the left-leaning firm Public Policy Polling and commissioned by the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change.

Looking just at Republicans in Cantor’s district, the poll found that 70 percent of GOP registered voters would support such a plan, while 27 percent would oppose.

Meanwhile, Cantor was deeply unpopular in his district, the PPP poll found. About 63 percent of those surveyed in his district said they did not approve of the job Cantor has been doing, with 30 percent of registered voters approving. Among Republicans, 43 percent approved of Cantor’s job performance, while 49 percent disapproved, the survey found.

“Cantor didn’t lose because of immigration,” pollster Tom Jensen wrote in the memo obtained in advance by POLITICO. “He lost because of the deep unpopularity of both himself personally and of the Republican House leadership. Even in his conservative district voters still want immigration reform passed, and they want it this year.”

Immigration advocates quickly argued following Cantor’s stunning loss that they never saw the No. 2 House Republican as an ally. Instead, they pointed to Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina – lawmakers who coasted through their primary challenges despite supporting immigration reform.

Still, despite support in public polling for an immigration overhaul, the House Republican conference has long been deeply divided on the issue. A major sticking point is what to do with the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, and Cantor’s loss all but assured that immigration reform won’t come up in the House this year.

PPP surveyed 488 registered voters in Cantor’s Richmond-area district on Tuesday, and the poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent.