Rep Eric I. Cantor of Henrico County, the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, apparently is under consideration by Sen. John McCain as his vice-presidential running mate.

The McCain campaign yesterday afternoon requested "personal records" from Cantor, a GOP source said. That typically includes family, health and financial documents.

Cantor is the second Virginian -- after Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine -- to be vetted this year for the vice presidency, a sign that both parties view the once-reliably Republican state and its 13 electoral votes as in play.

Cantor, who until this year was little-known outside the sprawling suburban-rural 7th District he has represented since 2001, was not immediately available for comment last night because he was attending a birthday party for his son.

But last week, Cantor played down talk of a national candidacy, telling Media General News Service, "This whole issue is one my kids think is really cool that my name is even there."

Others reportedly under consideration by McCain include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; and Tom Ridge, a former governor of Pennsylvania and a former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Cantor is among McCain's biggest cheerleaders in Congress and a favorite of conservatives, some of whom are suspicious of the Arizona senator. Cantor has been mentioned for the vice presidency for several months, initially on partisan blogs, political Web sites and friendly editorial pages.

"Eric is a fine young man, who is one of the bright shining stars of Virginia politics," Paul Galanti, a prominent Richmond Republican and a longtime McCain confidant, said last night.

Kaine, like Cantor, has been publicly circumspect about a spot on a national ticket. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, hinted at a Kaine selection by saying his running mate would be an outsider committed to bipartisan cooperation.

A reliable ally of tobacco companies and the financial-services industry, Cantor is an enthusiastic fundraiser for the House Republican Caucus. The lawyer and real-estate executive is the only Jewish Republican in the House, and he often is mentioned as a prospect for speaker.

Cantor and his investment-adviser wife, Diana, reportedly recently met with McCain for lunch at the Long Island, N.Y., estate of Revlon mogul Ronald Perelman, a prominent Republican donor. McCain was fundraising in New York.

"I don't really want to talk about the meeting," Cantor told Media General News Service last week.

Cantor has pressed fellow Republicans to restore the GOP's credentials on fiscal responsibility, urging a moratorium on discretionary spending in their districts known as earmarks.

At 45, Cantor is a baby boomer and could serve as a youthful counterweight to the 71-year-old McCain, a Navy aviator who was held captive in North Vietnam for five years with, among others, Galanti.

Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-5th, recently wrote McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, urging that McCain select Cantor as his running mate. Goode described Cantor as a "consistent conservative" on abortion, gun rights and illegal immigration who would energize the Republican Party base.

Cantor, a former member of the House of Delegates, has won all four of his congressional elections with at least 63 percent of the vote. Seeking a fifth term, he is opposed by Democrat Anita Hartke, a real estate broker in Culpeper County and daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Vance Hartke, D-Ind.

The 7th District is strongly Republican, spanning from the West End of Richmond to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

(Diana Cantor is a member of the board of directors of Media General Inc., parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com.

Politics Editor Andrew Cain contributed to this report.