Congressman Eric Cantor has risen in the political ranks, becoming one of the most powerful men in Washington.
However, whether or not he remains a prominent figure on Capitol Hill rests in the ballots of voters.
That's why the House Majority Leader is running an aggressive campaign, until the very end, to keep his opponent, Wayne Powell, away from his congressional seat.
“I’m for cutting taxes for small business, he's for raising them,” Cantor tells CBS 6’s Lorenzo Hall.
"The man I’m opposing would take away women’s rights,” says Powell. The 30-year, U.S. Army veteran is entering the political arena for the first time, trying to paint Cantor as someone who is grossly disconnected from his district.
“He just always sides with the richest and the greediest and that's just wrong,” says Powell.
Powell is hoping Virginia’s disdain for Congress is on his side, with many people seeing the lawmaking body as polarized and ineffective.
“What we've seen is an inability for this administration to bring both sides together,” says Cantor, who blames the President Obama. That’s why Cantor tells CBS 6, he is campaigning to have Mitt Romney run the executive branch, increase Republican representation in the senate with George Allen and then, his own seat.
“Eric Cantor in my view is the face of the corruption, dysfunction, and obstruction in Congress. He's not alone,” says Powell. “There are people on both sides of the aisle.”
Powell calls himself a Republican kind of Democrat and says he'll work with both sides and isn't playing favorites.
He's not even holding his victory rally with other state democrats on Election Day. “I certainly think there are extremes on both ends of both parties,” says Powell.
