--- title: Cantor Considering His Next Move After Stunning Primary Defeat description: Eric Cantor could move to K Street and become a lobbyist, or shuffle off to New York to join the business and financial world. canonical: https://time.com/2873621/eric-cantor-lobbyist/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-16T20:11:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:25:03.826Z article:section: Politics og:title: Cantor Considering His Next Move After Stunning Primary Defeat og:description: Eric Cantor could move to K Street and become a lobbyist, or shuffle off to New York to join the business and financial world. og:url: https://time.com/2873621/eric-cantor-lobbyist/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58fa6b557bdaa0db/698697d213c79f137d192ac1/eric-cantor1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cantor Considering His Next Move After Stunning Primary Defeat twitter:description: Eric Cantor could move to K Street and become a lobbyist, or shuffle off to New York to join the business and financial world. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58fa6b557bdaa0db/698697d213c79f137d192ac1/eric-cantor1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cantor Considering His Next Move After Stunning Primary Defeat > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ba2a5c48-cf68-4820-9d2b-e8aed845f5b2&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jun 16, 2014 8:11 PM UTC  US House Majority Leader, Republican from Virginia Eric Cantor, holds a news conference where he announced his resignation effective 31 July, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on June 11, 2014. US House Majority Leader, Republican from Virginia Eric Cantor, holds a news conference where he announced his resignation effective 31 July, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on June 11, 2014. Ron Sachs—picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jun 16, 2014 8:11 PM UTC Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s sudden fall from power could end in the clutches of the private sector. But one possibility, K Street, does not seem to entice Cantor. “I don’t think that I want to be a lobbyist,” said Cantor Sunday on ABC’s [_This Week_](http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-house-majority-leader-eric-cantor/story?id=24131832&singlePage=true). “But I do want to play a role in in the public debate.” So where else would he go? Chris Jones, a managing partner of CapitalWorks who was called “K Street’s talent scout” in a [profile](http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/lobbyist-profiles/207535-k-streets-talent-scout) from _The Hill_, believes that Cantor will move to New York and take a “prominent role” at one of the major banks. “I don’t think he’ll be a standard lobbyist at a law firm,” says Jones. “I think he’ll go big … I think he’s a major power player.” A move to banking or financial services would continue Cantor’s close ties to those industries: Cantor’s top three campaign contributors over the past year were investment firms Blackstone Group, Scoggin Capital Management and Goldman Sachs, according to the [Center for Responsive Politics](https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00013131&cycle=2014). But if Cantor does decide to play a role in the public arena, he could easily serve as a conduit between big money and top Republicans in the campaign finance netherworld that he managed so well as a politician.”I believe he will start or expand a political operation similar to the American Action Network or Crossroads \[GPS\],” says a longtime Cantor ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He will be a sought-after advisor for presidential campaigns. He will serve on corporate boards and possibly have a senior advisor role in a company.” Of course, Cantor could still push through the well-worn revolving door by joining a business community that would welcome him with open arms. Cantor’s support for limited government and skill set would guide an easy transition to K Street. “Increasingly the House Republican caucus has been viewed as a little bit unwieldy and hard to work with,” says Jones. “\[Cantor\] understands all the elements, all the factions, the whims of politics. And he’s able to interpret, analyze \[and\] read the tea leaves.” Becoming a lobbyist would also significantly increase Cantor’s current salary of $193,400 a year. “I think that the bidding probably starts at $1 million,” says Ivan Adler, an executive recruiter for the McCormick Group. “I think he would be a magnet for business at any law firm. He would be a tremendous advocate for the interests of anybody that wanted to sign up with him. I think he’s got a really bright future.” Cantor’s senior staff has already reached out to explore his lobbying options, according to one recruiter. The source estimated that he could make anywhere from half a million to four million dollars a year, depending if he engaged in advocacy for a non-profit or for a business association. The top officers at some financial lobbies, including the Managed Funds Association and the Institute of International Finance, earned compensation packages between $2.2 million and $3.9 million, according to a recent study conducted by National Journal. “I’ve been very gratified by the number of people that have reached out to me already,” said Cantor on Sunday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2873621/eric-cantor-lobbyist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2873621/eric-cantor-lobbyist/"},"headline":"Cantor Considering His Next Move After Stunning Primary Defeat","datePublished":"2014-06-16T20:11:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:25:03.826Z","description":"House Majority Leader Eric Cantor stands to gain a significant raise should he decide to go the lobbying route","url":"https://time.com/2873621/eric-cantor-lobbyist/","keywords":["Lobbying","Eric Cantor"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58fa6b557bdaa0db/698697d213c79f137d192ac1/eric-cantor1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58fa6b557bdaa0db/698697d213c79f137d192ac1/eric-cantor1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor","caption":"US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor","creditText":"Ron Sachs—picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2873621/eric-cantor-lobbyist/","name":"Cantor Considering His Next Move After Stunning Primary Defeat"}}]}] ```