Rep. Eric Cantor himself told a top supporter that his defeat Tuesday was driven by Democrats "coming out to hurt his candidacy" in Virginia's open primary system, the supporter said.
Cantor's top political aides earlier made that claim, which has been widely rejected as unsubstantiated sour grapes by other election analysts.
Phil Rosen, a New York lawyer and activist on Republican and pro-Israel causes, told New York radio host Michael Fragin Thursday that Cantor himself had advanced that theory.
"What we've discovered is that out of the 60,000 people who voted in the Republican primary, 15,000 of them were Democrats and all of those votes — 100% of those votes — went against Eric Cantor," Rosen said. "That factor is giant."
"I've heard it not just from Eric, I've heard it from 2 other people involved in politics in Virginia," Rosen said.