Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the current House Republican whip, could be the next House Majority Leader after the "stunning" primary election defeat of Eric Cantor in the Virginia 7th District primary on Tuesday. McCarthy, who has already received Cantor's endorsement, has yet to confirm his intentions for the second-rank position in the House of Representatives, but he will need to deal with several hot-topic issues regularly being debated.

McCarthy's quest to be House Majority Leader might be an easier ride than expected. His main rival for the role — Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas — dropped out of the race on Thursday. For McCarthy, immigration will continue to be an issue as it was for Cantor, but as Latin Post reported, three other issues are also important among Latinos: education, the economy and health care.

Immigration:

According to Public Policy Polling, Cantor's Virginia district wanted immigration reform. While Cantor's opponent, college professor and Tea Party-candidate David Brat, criticized Cantor for being "liberal" on immigration reform, Cantor insisted he was conservative on the issue and against "amnesty" efforts for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.

In November 2013 during an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation," when asked if immigration reform is dead, McCarthy said, "No, immigration reform is going to happen."

Cantor and Speaker of the House John Boehner have yet to pass any legislation on immigration reform, but McCarthy reiterated Cantor's talking point of addressing immigration in a "step-by-step method."

"And I will tell you, the president came out and supported that the other day," McCarthy said.

McCarthy has called the current immigration system "broken" and "needs to be fixed," citing, "[42 percent] of everyone that's here illegally came here legally. We need to fix this system."

The topic of immigration might be important for McCarthy's constituents since 35 percent of his district is Latino.

Immigration activists have criticized McCarthy's lack of support for immigration reform, resulting in protests and sit-ins at his office. McCarthy previously voted to halt funding of an Obama administration program that stopped deportation of immigrant youths whoare attending high school or college or serving in the military. According to the Los Angeles Times, McCarthy is a cosponsor of a bill with fellow Central Valley GOP Rep. Jeff Dunham that will provide a "path to citizenship" and legal status for immigrants serving the military.

McCarthy rebutted the "path to citizenship" route during an interview with KBFX Eyewitnesses News in January.

"The principles aren't combined, written out yet, but in my personal belief, I think it'll go with legal status that will allow you to work and pay your taxes," McCarthy said. "But if you want to become a citizen, you'll have to go through the path. There won't be amnesty inside it. ... That's a decision that every Republican will have to make in laying out the principles, but that's my personal position."

Economy:

McCarthy has also been critical of the Obama administration's economic policies. He's said the stimulus cost Americans approximately 2 million jobs, gas prices increased more than 100 percent since Obama entered office in 2008, and food stamp recipients spiked over 39 percent.

"Startups in the last 12 months are at the lowest point in a decade," McCarthy said in a statement in 2011. "I want to stress that — the lowest point in a decade. If you take the end of the last recession from 2001 to 2007, small business are those with 500 employees or less, created more than 7 million jobs. Those with 500 or more actually decreased in jobs."

McCarthy, however, did support the Bush/Cheney Stimulus legislation in January 2008.

McCarthy is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, which deals with the economy, the banking system, housing, insurance and securities and exchanges. The committee oversees agencies such as the Federal Reserve, Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Credit Union Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Education:

McCarthy has stated the U.S. education system has to compete against China, India and the European Union. He supported the "College Student Relief Act of 2007" to lower interest rates on student loans. According to Congress.gov, McCarthy has not co-sponsored an education-related bill since 2009 that has not been referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education.

Health Care:

McCarthy has strongly criticized the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or as he prefers to call it, Obamacare. McCarthy co-sponsored the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act," which would effectively repeal Obamacare.

Following the White House's announcement of enrolling over 7.1 million people in late March, McCarthy wrote a blog "debunking" the Obama administration's claims.

"Despite measuring themselves against a self-manufactured goal that falls far behind original assumptions, the Administration thus far has refused to provide key information that would shed light on the true number of enrollees," McCarthy said and added that questions, such as, "How many were previously uninsured?" and, "How many paid their first month's premium but not their second or third?" need to be answered.

"I will not stop fighting until this government takeover of health care is fully repealed and defunded," McCarthy said in a statement. "We will demand the Democratic-controlled Senate and the President finally listen to the American people, and we will keep fighting to stop the implementation of this law. Obamacare must be repealed, and we are committed to putting in place common-sense reforms that lower health care costs without raising taxes or increasing our debt."

According to McCarthy, doctors and "not Washington bureaucrats" should make the health decisions. McCarthy, however, has yet to publish his plans for an alternative to the ACA.

Tech:

According to Politico, McCarthy has appointed himself the unofficial GOP ambassador to Silicon Valley. During 2013, McCarthy and six Republican members visited companies, such as Facebook and Google, and a similar trip this year has been planned.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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