House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has had extraordinary fundraising, thanks in part to his ties to Wall Street. But he has also drawn protesters at recent events.
Roll Call reports that Cantor's Wall Street contacts have helped him raise $6.5 million for his Republican colleagues. His leadership PAC -- the largest in the House and Senate -- has raised close to $350,000 from securities and investment firms.
Due in part to his Wall Street ties, Cantor has drawn protests or the threat of protests at recent public appearances. At a speech Monday at the University of Michigan, a crowd of protesters gathered outside with signs like "RIP MIddle Class." Cantor spoke at Northwestern University Friday, drawing about 75 protestors. Cantor cancelled a speech at the University of Pennsylvania earlier this month after the university decided to open it to the public.
Cantor criticized the Occupy Wall Street protests at the Values Voters Summit in Washington earlier this month. "If you read the newspapers today, I, for one, am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and the other cities across the country," he said. He later said protestors are "justifiably frustrated" with the economy.
Cantor voted against the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law and called it "another step in the direction of trying to prescribe from Washington the outcomes across the economy."
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