out my term as a member in congress, effective july 31st i will be stepping down as majority leader. it is with great humility that i do so knowing the tremendous honor it has been to hold this position. >> which leaves a political vacuum. it sends a message that the tea party could speak volumes about who prevails in november. >> reporter: losing in an upset and a landslide against an unknown from your own party must be hard to wrap your mind around when you're house majority leader. >> did you look in the mirror last night and said how did i let this happen? >> no, because i really do believe we did everything we could and i just came up short and the voters elected another candidate. >> reporter: the question is how did eric cantor come up so short? this it rally earlier this month for cantor's opponent is part of o the answer. >> instead of spending five