Costa reports on Cantor’s possible replacements:
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), an easygoing Californian and former recruiter of conservative candidates, is best positioned to take Cantor’s place, regardless of when he leaves. McCarthy has a deep well of support and a light managing style that has won favor with the conference’s younger and more independent members. He was a co-author of “A Pledge to America,” the GOP’s 2010 election manifesto and seen as an able communicator. But his at times rocky experience on the floor, where he has seen some major votes fail after being whipped and some conservatives unhappy with his tactics, has raised questions about his leadership.
One possible rival to McCarthy for majority leader is Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, who is a favorite of tea party activists and known in the House for his clashes with Boehner, Cantor, and McCarthy.
Ron Elving eyes Paul Ryan:
[He] had been counted out, in part because he was thought unwilling to challenge Cantor. Now the field is wide open. And given his lack of interest in a presidential run in 2016, wouldn’t he rather be speaker than chairman of Ways and Means?
Josh Green expects “that the center of gravity in the House will shift further to the right”:
Cantor’s absence leaves a void that the right wing will push hard to fill. As a result, next year’s legislative agenda will look different and more conservative.
This in turn will affect the GOP presidential primary, because the candidates will have to take positions on whatever legislation the House is entertaining. Many commentators are already weighing in to predict that Cantor’s loss will spell doom for the GOP in 2016, and it may. But conservatives see it as a validation of their worldview and an opening to further assert their influence — which means there’s going to be an even bigger fight about that first.
Albert R. Hunt predicts “the remaining four months of this session will be dominated by internal jockeying for leadership posts among the majority House Republicans”:
Speaker John Boehner may escape without a challenger but there will be intense rivalry for the No. 2 and No. 3 House posts. The top contenders will be House Whip Kevin McCarthy of California, who would like Cantor’s job, and Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling. Emboldened by the shocking Cantor upset, the Tea Party caucus almost certainly will demand one of the top three leadership posts for one of their own. The most likely standard bearers from this contingent might be Louisiana’s Steve Scalise or Georgia’s Tom Price.
Rick Klein is on the same page:
Boehner’s days as House Speaker were thought to be numbered even before this stunner. Cantor’s defeat ends the leadership career of the man who was most widely mentioned as his successor — a charter member of the GOP crop of “young guns” who had more credibility among conservatives than even Boehner himself. Any thought of the House Republican conference steering back toward a moderate direction in choosing a leader was zapped by Cantor’s primary defeat. In elevating new leaders, House Republicans seem certain to want to push further to the right now.
(Photo: U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), a crouching House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and, on the far left, House Majority Chief Deputy Whip Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) talk prior to a media availability on Capitol Hill on December 20, 2011. By Alex Wong/Getty Images.)
The Dish 