Mara Liasson

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary election to Tea Party challenger Dave Brat Tuesday night in Virginia. Cantor was widely expected to eventually replace House Speaker John Boehner.

In a surprise result, voters in Virginia's 7th Congressional District have dealt a defeat to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, nominating Tea Party challenger David Brat instead in the GOP primary.

President Obama is signing an executive order Monday, which will expand a loan forgiveness program for college debt. NPR's Mara Liasson looks at the program and the political salience of the issue.

Everything the Obama administration touches seems to set off a political firestorm. The latest involves Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and the prisoner exchange that led to his release by the Taliban.

The most closely watched of Tuesday's primaries was the race in Mississippi, where incumbent Republican Senator Thad Cochran was fending off a challenge from Tea Party-backed Chris McDaniel.

For the first time, the U.S. would regulate the greenhouse gas causing emissions from existing coal plants. The goal is to reduce emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030.

A preliminary review by the Veteran Affairs' inspector general has found that inappropriate scheduling practices are a systemic problem. The scandal is a serious political problem for the White House.

When you think about the party that has problems with Latino voters, it's usually the GOP. In 2012, they lost the Hispanic vote by more than 2 to 1, and long-term demographic changes ...

Republican struggles between establishment-backed conservatives and Tea Party rivals are a dominant feature this election season. Georgia had a crowded GOP race that is headed to a July runoff.

In Tuesday's Senate primary in Nebraska, Ben Sasse, a university president and Tea Party favorite, beat former state treasurer Shane Osborn.

Primary season is in full swing. Early on, it appears that the Republican Party establishment is finally having its way and beating Tea Party challengers with ease.

NPR's Mara Liasson interviewed top Democratic ad man Jim Margolis recently as part of her research for a story about political advertising aimed at women.

Much of the interview didn't make the final radio piece, but the picture he painted of the not-too-distant political future was fascinating — and ...

It's only April, but it looks and sounds like October. More than $80 million has been spent on political advertising in only about a dozen Senate battleground states.

About half that amount is targeted at women.

Many ads aimed at women take the most obvious approach: Republicans putting their female ...

In North Carolina's GOP Senate primary, Tom Tillis, the State House speaker, won a big enough margin to avoid a runoff. Republicans are trying to avoid the mistakes of the past 2 election cycles.

Going into midterm elections, this key demographic poses a big challenge for Democrats: getting their most reliable female supporters to become more reliable voters.

A shadow campaign is underway, raising small donations by selling T-shirts and baby onesies and holding fundraisers, all just waiting for Clinton to say that, yes, she is running for president.

After a horrendous October rollout, the ACA is viewed a little more favorably now. But the number of people who intensely oppose the law is 12 percentage points higher than those who strongly back it.

You got in! But just how much money is that school offering you? Financial aid award letters can be confusing, so we've put together a sample letter — and translated it into plain English.

The president's party is counting on sophisticated field operations to stave off defeat in November. But in the year's first test, a Florida special election, the effort fell short.

Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is visiting the White House Wednesday. The meeting comes days before a vote in Crimea over whether to secede from Ukraine.