Boondocks bid for House seat eludes ``Cooter'' Jones

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Republican Representative Eric Cantor won a second term Tuesday, overcoming a Southern-fried campaign by Ben Jones, the former Georgia congressman who played good ol&#39; boy mechanic Cooter on television&#39;s ``The Dukes of Hazzard.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> With more than half the precincts reporting, Cantor had 72 percent of the vote to Jones&#39; 28 percent. <br> <br> Jones&#39; star power and his down-home appeal as a moderate Democrat added color to drab midterm elections that strongly favored Cantor and ten other House incumbents in Virginia. <br> <br> Jones -- twice elected to Congress from suburban Atlanta beginning in 1988 -- portrayed himself as a ``NASCAR Democrat&#39;&#39; who sought to ``take care of mama &#39;n&#39; them and make sure the kids get a good education.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Cantor was the handpicked successor to former House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas J. Bliley. In eight years in the state House, Cantor was a strongly pro-business conservative.