House Republican Whip Eric Cantor Endorses Graves

(RANGER, GA)  – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced his official endorsement of Tom Graves, candidate for 9th Congressional seat, and issued the following statement:

“Tom will be a leader in Congress who is not afraid to challenge the status quo and fight for the issues and values that are important to his district,” said Cantor.  He won’t back down when our conservative principles are threatened and his tax cutting, free market, job creating initiatives are just what we need in Washington to get our country back on track.”

“I am honored to receive Eric’s endorsement,” responded Graves. “He’s been a great leader for all Americans and true taxpayer champion stemming the tide of government waste. I look forward to working with him in Washington as we confront the liberal agenda and get our country back on track.”

Graves finished first in the May 11th Special General Election, receiving 35.4 percent of the vote and out polled his runoff opponent by 12 points.

Graves has been endorsed by FreedomWorks, RedState’s Erick Erickson, the Club for Growth PAC, Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project, Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and former 9th District candidates Bert Loftman and Eugene Moon.  Graves was the first candidate to be certified 100 percent pro-life by the Georgia Right to Life PAC.

Graves represented the 12th House District from 2003 until March 23, 2010.  Graves announced last May that he would seek the 9th District Congressional seat that was vacated by Congressman Nathan Deal, who is running for Governor. He earned 35.4 percent of the vote in the May 11th special election which sent him into an expected runoff on June 8th.  He won 11 of the 15 counties and took a close second place in the remaining 4 counties in Georgia’s 9th District.  Graves has a 12 point lead on his opponent and significantly outpolled him in 14 of the 15 counties in the 9th District.