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Dave Brat
Personal details
BornDavid Alan Brat
July 1964 (age 60)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLaura Sonderman Brat
Children2
Parent(s)Paul
Nancy
Residence(s)Henrico, Virginia
Alma materHope College (B.A.)

Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.)

American University (Ph.D)
ProfessionProfessor (economics)

David Alan Brat (born July 1964) is an American economist, a professor at Randolph–Macon College, and the Republican nominee for the general election in Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, which will be held on November 4, 2014. He will face Democratic nominee Jack Trammell.

Brat defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the district's 2014 Republican primary on June 10, 2014. Brat's primary victory over Cantor, one of the biggest upsets in modern congressional history, made him the first primary challenger to oust a sitting House Majority Leader since the position's creation in 1899.

Early life and education

Brat was born in Detroit in July 1964. Brat's father, Paul, was a doctor of internal medicine; his mother, Nancy, was employed as a social worker in Alma, Michigan, where he was raised. His family moved from Alma to Minnesota when David, the oldest of three boys, was in junior high. Brat graduated from Park Center Senior High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Brat attended Hope College in Michigan and received a B.A. in Business Administration in 1986; he also graduated with a Master's degree in Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1990 and earned a Ph.D in economics from American University in 1995.

Academic career

After working for Arthur Andersen and as a consultant for the World Bank, Brat joined the faculty of Randolph–Macon College in 1996, where he served as chair of the department of economics, and taught courses including "Britain in the International Economy", "International Economic Development", and "Business Ethics".

From 2010 to 2012 Brat headed Randolph-Macon's BB&T Moral Foundations of Capitalism program, one of sixty similar programs and chairs in the philosophy and economics departments at United States universities devoted to the study of capitalism and morality endowed by the BB&T Corporation.

In 2006 Brat was appointed by Virginia governor Tim Kaine to the Governor's Advisory Board of Economists, a position he continues to hold. He has also serves on the board of directors of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, and on the advisory board of the Virginia Public Access Project.

Political career

Special legislative assistant

From 2005 to 2011, Brat worked as a special legislative assistant to Virginia state senator Walter Stosch in the area of higher education.

2011 campaign for Virginia's 56th House of Delegates seat

In August 2011, Brat announced he was running for the Virginia House of Delegates seat for the 56th district. There was no primary, and six Republican leaders met and chose Peter Farrell, as the Republican nominee in the November 2011 general election.

2014 race for 7th congressional district

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2014 § District 7

Republican primary

Brat ran against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for the Republican nomination for Virginia's 7th congressional district and defeated Cantor by a 12-point margin. Brat was outspent by Cantor 40 to 1: Cantor spent over $5 million, while Brat raised $200,000 and did not spend all of it. An analysis of campaign filings conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics concluded that Brat did not receive any donations from political action committees and ultimately conceded that "it's almost impossible to profile Brat's typical donor, because he had so few." Brat's win was a historic and stunning victory, as it was the first time a sitting House Majority Leader was defeated in his primary race since the position was created in the 19th century.

Brat ran well to Cantor's right, complaining that Cantor had a "crony-capitalist mentality", putting the interests of the corporate sector ahead of small businesses. His campaign laid particular stress on opposing immigration reform, saying that Cantor favored "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham endorsed Brat's candidacy and hosted a rally with him in a Richmond suburb. Brat was also supported by radio talk show host Mark Levin and Ann Coulter. Chris Peace, a state legislator who collaborated with Brat on state budget issues at Randolph-Macon College, stated that Brat was inspired to run for Congress because of "His passion for the structure of government and belief in free markets."

Brat ran an anti-establishment campaign criticizing government bailouts and budget deals while frequently invoking God and the Constitution in his speeches. During the campaign, Cantor criticized Brat as a "liberal professor" who had strong ties to Tim Kaine, Virginia's former Democratic governor and current junior Senator.

Although Brat received support from, and gave credit for his win to, local Tea Party groups in Virginia, he received no funding or endorsement from national Tea Party organizations. Brat has not self-identified with the Tea Party movement. Ron Rapoport, a political scientist at the College of William & Mary, has said Brat may be correctly identified as a "tea partier" only if the term is used as a catchall for "anti-establishment activist", while John Judis has opined that Brat could more correctly be described as a "right-wing populist".

Brat’s victory was described in the press as a “deep schism” in the Republican party between its conservative base and its business wing, as well as as split between establishment Republicans and tea party activists insurgents.

Matea Gold and Tom Hamburger, writing in The Washington Post, said that Brat's victory points to a divide in the Republican Party "between its conservative base and its business wing", and Brat was critical of Cantor's relationships with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable.

General election

Brat will face Democratic nominee Jack Trammell, who is also a professor at Randolph-Macon, in the November general election. Brat is favored due to the 7th's significant Republican lean. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+10, easily the most Republican district in eastern Virginia.

Economic philosophy

To Brat, culture matters in economic markets. The culture that produced Adam Smith was a Protestant culture and that fact and the ethics of that culture are important in understanding market efficiency. In his 2011 essay titled God and Advanced Mammon — Can Theological Types Handle Usury and Capitalism?, Brat posits that if Christian people "had the guts to spread the word", government would not need to "backstop every action we take". According to Kevin Roose in a New York Magazine article, Brat "sees free-market economics as being intricately linked to ethics and faith and he makes the case that Adam Smith's invisible hand theory, should be seen in the context of Christianity". Furthering Mark Webber's theme in his Economic Growth and Institutions: The Rise and Fall of the Protestant Ethic? paper of 2004, Brat argues that "institutions such as religion, democracy and government anti-diversion policies all significantly enhance a country's long-run economic performance" and concludes that "the religion variable may be the strongest ex ante, exogenous institutional variable in the literature." In a paper titledIs Growth Exogenous? Taking Bernanke Seriously, Brat debates Ben Bernanke, former Federal Reserve chairman, asserting that Bernanke's work on economic growth overlooks religious institutions – in particular Protestant – in a country's economic growth, and that savings rates, population growth and human capital accumulation help drive economic growth but the larger factor is "the Protestant religious establishment", which Bernake ignores.

On capitalism, Brat writes that it is here to stay and that we need a corresponding church model. He asserts that Jesus had faith and made things better, but Christians have become a bit passive. He stated that Hitler's rise "could all happen again" as he came along and "did not meet with unified resistance" from Christians. Brat believes that countries with Protestant pasts have economic advantages over countries that don't, and that Protestantism "provides an efficient set of property rights and encourages a modern set of economic incentives" that often lead to "positive economic performance". He believes in Christ as a transformer of culture, and that capitalism is the key to world transformation, which can be achieved when capitalism and Christianity merge; if people follow the gospel, and as a consequence make people good, he argues, then the markets will improve.

Zack Beauchamp from Vox Media has said that Brat believes that "most economists are motivated by philosophy rather than science: they're secretly utilitarians who believe that the goal of public policy is to produce the greatest good for the greatest number."

Although Brat has stated he does not identify as a Randian, he has acknowledged having been influenced by Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged and has expressed appreciation of Ayn Rand's case for human freedom and free markets.

Political positions

Economy

Brat has promised to vote against raising the debt ceiling for the first five years he is in Congress, and attacked Cantor during the primary campaign for voting to end the federal government shutdown of 2013.

Education

Brat opposes federally mandated education policies such as the Common Core curriculum, and No Child Left Behind.

Ethics reform

His decision to enter the Republican primary was driven largely by Cantor's role in weakening congressional ethics reform. Brat stated: "If you want to find out the smoking gun in this campaign, just go Google]] and type the STOCK Act and CNN and Eric Cantor."

Healthcare

Brat has stated he will "fight to defund and repeal Obamacare", and wants to "replace it with free-market solutions that lower costs, improve quality, and increase access to care".

National Security Agency

Brat has called for the National Security Agency to end bulk collection of phone records and has stated his support for statutory protections for e-mail privacy. He has argued that domestic intelligence activities have "spun out of control", and "the NSA's indiscriminate collection of data on all Americans is a disturbing violation of our Fourth Amendment right to privacy."

Social Issues

Brat criticizes the political Right for simultaneously advancing the pursuit of individual liberty while pushing laws restricting abortion, gay marriage and gambling, and the Left for simultaneously supporting progressive liberal individualism while coercing others to "fund every social program under the sun".

His website states that Brat will "protect the rights of the unborn and the sanctity of marriage, and will oppose any governmental intrusion upon the conscience of people of faith".

Social Security and Medicare

Brat has criticized both political parties for not addressing Medicare and Social Security, stating that "neither side of the aisle will talk about the most important issues because that is going to involve pain." Brat advocates "market-based reforms" to these programs, as in his view, it is unfair that people pay less than they take out so these programs have to be slashed or eliminated. He advocates for private Social Security accounts.

Taxes

Brat advocates for an end to tax credits, deductions and loopholes, and calls for a flatter and more efficient tax code.

Term limits

Brat is a proponent of term limits for members of Congress. He has pledged, if elected, to serve a maximum of 12 years (six terms) in Congress.

Troubled Asset Relief Program

Brat has indicated he opposed the Troubled Asset Relief Program of 2008 and has stated that, if elected, he would "vote against bills that benefit big business over small business". He has stated: "I'm not against business. I'm against big business in bed with big government."

Publications

  • God and Advanced Mammon — Can Theological Types Handle Usury and Capitalism? (2011)
  • NAEP Scores, Human Capital, and State Growth (2009)
  • A Global Kuznets Curve? (1995)
  • All Democracies Created Equal? 195 Years Might Matter (2004)
  • Economic Growth and Institutions: The Rise and Fall of the Protestant Ethic? (2004)
  • An Analysis of the Moral Foundations in Ayn Rand
  • Cross-Country R&D and Growth: Variations on a Theme of Mankiw-Romer-Weil (1996)

Personal life

Brat was raised in the Presbyterian faith and his wife is a Roman Catholic. They split their time between two churches. They are parishioners of St. Mary Catholic Church in Richmond. Brat also identifies as a Calvinist, and list affiliations with Christ Episcopal Church, Third Presbyterian, and Shady Grove Methodist.

Brat moved to Virginia in 1996 with his wife, Laura.

Brat's brother, Dan, is a medical doctor and vice chairman of the neuropathology department at Emory University. His youngest brother, Jim, is a Los Angeles-based real estate attorney.

References

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  32. "Tea party stuns GOP leader Eric Cantor". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved June 13, 2014. Brat also got help from the more conservative wing of the Virginia Republican Party, which for years has been split between more establishment Republicans and tea party activists.
  33. "Thee Top 8 consequences of Cantor's defeat". Breibart. Retrieved June 13, 2014. The major business interests within the Republican Party, including the Chamber of Commerce, have been heavy backers of amnesty in Congress. They just got outclassed by an on-the-ground grassroots force. The split between those two groups paves the way for an all-out brawl between the corporatist Republican establishment and the Tea Party capitalists come 2016.
  34. Yahoo News "Emboldened after Cantor, tea party crows". Yahoo News. Retrieved June 13, 2014. The GOP is expected to retain control of the House, but Brat's pounding of Cantor Tuesday ripped open the establishment-vs.-insurgent split that's plagued the party since the 2010 elections. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  35. Gold, Matea. "Tea party activists hope Dave Brat's win is translated into national wave". The Washington Post.
  36. Andrew Prokop (June 10, 2014). "Dave Brat and his Democratic general election opponent are both professors from the same college". Vox.com. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
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  65. Brat, David. "Economic Growth and Institutions: The Rise and Fall of the Protestant Ethic?" Virginia Economic Journal 9 (2004): 33-40.
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  67. "http://nw08.american.edu" (PDF). American University Washington DC. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
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  69. June 10, 2014 (January 15, 1962). "Laura Brat- Virginia Politician Dave Brat's Wife (Bio, Wiki)". Dailyentertainmentnews.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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