Cantor: Serving as majority leader ‘one of the highest honors of my life’

House Majority Eric Leader (R-Va.) conceded defeat to his Tea Party challenger Tuesday night, calling his tenure as majority leader “one of the highest honors of my life.” 

Cantor, standing alongside his wife, Diana, made a brief appearance before dispirited supporters in Richmond, just after the race was called for his underfunded challenger, conservative economics professor David Brat. 

{mosads}”Serving as the seventh district congressman, and then having the privilege to be majority leader, has been one of the highest honors of my life,” said Cantor. “And what I set out to do, and the agenda that I have always said we’re about, is we want to create a Virginia and an America that works for everybody, and we need to focus our efforts as conservatives, as Republicans, on putting forth our conservative solutions so that they can help solve the problems for so many working class families that may not have the opportunity that we have.”

“I know there’s a lot of long faces here tonight, and, um, it’s disappointing, sure,” he continued. “But I believe in this country. I believe there’s opportunity around the next corner for all of us. So I look forward to continuing to fight with all of you for the things that we believe in for the conservative cause, because those solutions of ours are the answers to so many of problems that people are facing today.”