Cantor, Eric, 1963-

Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer, businessman, and former politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 until his 2014 resignation. A member of the Republican leadership from 2003 to 2014, Cantor served as House Republican Chief Deputy Whip from 2003 to 2009, as House Minority Whip from 2009 to 2011 and as House Majority Leader from 2011 to 2014.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, he graduated from the Collegiate School there before earning a B.A. from George Washington University, a J.D. from William & Mary Law School, and an M.S. from Columbia University. As a college freshman, he worked as an intern for House Republican Tom Bliley of Virginia's 7th congressional district and was Bliley's driver in the 1982 campaign. He practiced law and worked in his family's real estate business before being elected to Congress. Cantor served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992 until 2001. After Tom Bliley announced his retirement ahead of the 2000 election, Cantor announced he would seek the seat. Cantor had chaired Bliley's reelection campaigns for the previous six years, and immediately gained the support of Bliley's political organization, as well as Bliley's endorsement later in the primary. Cantor would go on to be elected seven times in total.

During his first term, Cantor was chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He has also served on the House Financial Services Committee and on the House International Relations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. In 2002, weeks after winning a second term, Cantor was appointed by Republican Whip Roy Blunt to be Chief Deputy Republican Whip, the highest appointed position in the Republican caucus. On November 19, 2008, Cantor was unanimously elected Republican Whip for the 111th Congress, after serving as Deputy Whip for six years under Blunt. Blunt had decided not to seek reelection to the post after Republican losses in the previous two elections. Cantor became the Majority Leader when the 112th Congress took office on January 3, 2011, after Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives.

On June 10, 2014, in a major upset, Cantor lost the Republican primary 44.5%–55.5% to Dave Brat, a Tea Party candidate and a professor at Randolph-Macon College. That made Cantor the first sitting House majority leader to lose a primary since the position was created in 1899. Following his primary defeat, Cantor announced his resignation as House Majority Leader effective on July 31, 2014, and declared that he would not campaign for the general election. In an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on July 31, 2014, Cantor announced his resignation from Congress effective on August 18, 2014, and said that he had asked Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to call for a special election on November 4, 2014 to coincide with the 2014 general election.

On Tuesday, September 2, 2014, advisory firm Moelis & Company announced that it was appointing Eric Cantor as vice chairman and managing director and that he would be elected to the Moelis & Company board of directors. Cantor remains with Moelis advising clients on issues spanning the intersection of public policy and industry.