Did Democrats Do In Cantor?

David Brat

Here in Virginia one does not register by political party.  Hence at primary time, one can vote in either party primary but not both.  Some speculate that Democrats may have voted for Cantor's challenger in the hope that a more extreme GOP candidate might be easier to defeat in November.  Here's a sample of speculation via Andrew Sullivan:

A reader writes:

I live in the 7th District in Virginia, and I am a Democrat who voted for David Brat in the open primary. There has been a whisper campaign going on among the Democrats in the district for the last few weeks and it resulted in many Democrats coming out to vote for Brat. We felt especially encouraged after the 7th District committee nominated Jack Trammell to be the Democratic candidate for the seat last Sunday. We now feel we at least have a fair chance at winning it. (By the way, Jack Trammell is a professor at the same small college as Brat, Randolph-Macon.)

Well, not quite the Democrats of Mickey’s dreams, I guess. Update from a reader:

Here’s a theory to support your reader who, though a Democrat, voted for Brat: in 2012, roughly 47,000 people voted in the 7th District Republican primary. This time, roughly 65,000.  Now let’s assume that of those 18,000 new voters, 16,000 were Democrats voting to axe Cantor, then rework the numbers if they hadn’t voted: Cantor would then have had around 29,000+ votes, and Brat would have had around 20,000+.  Which would have worked out to approximately 59% for Cantor, which is where he was at in 2012 and much closer to his internal polling showing him with a lead of 34% among likely REPUBLICAN voters.

I’m thinking time will show that Democrats in his district were fed up with him, and decided to do something about it.

Based on past experience when Democrats have voted in GOP primaries - usually to ensure the victory of the moderate GOP candidate such as former Senator John Warner - the speculation is within the realm of the possible.