48 Facts About Dave Brat

David Alan Brat was born on July 27,1964 and is an American academic and former politician.

Dave Brat came to national prominence when he defeated the US House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, in the 2014 Republican primary in Virginia's 7th congressional district.

Dave Brat went on to win the 2014 general election and was re-elected to Congress in 2016.

Dave Brat was defeated by Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the 2018 election.

In January 2019, Dave Brat was named dean of the Liberty University School of Business.

David Alan Dave Brat was born in Detroit, Michigan, on July 27,1964.

Dave 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.

Dave Brat's family moved from Alma to Minnesota when David, the oldest of three boys, was in junior high.

Dave Brat graduated from Park Center Senior High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

For six years, Dave Brat chaired the College's department of ethics and business.

In 2006, Dave Brat was appointed by Virginia governor Tim Kaine to the Governor's Advisory Board of Economists.

Dave Brat has served on the board of directors of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, and on the advisory board of the Virginia Public Access Project.

In January 2019, following his defeat in the 2018 congressional election, Dave Brat was named dean of the Liberty University School of Business.

In May 2023, Dave Brat became Vice Provost for Engagement and Public Relations at Liberty.

Dave Brat believes that the culture that produced Adam Smith was a Protestant culture, and that the ethics of that culture are important in understanding market efficiency.

Dave Brat has advocated that Christians should forcefully support free-market capitalism and behave altruistically, in the manner of Jesus, so that "we would not need the government to backstop every action we take".

Dave Brat added that while savings rates, population growth, and human capital accumulation help drive economic growth, the larger factor is "the Protestant religious establishment", which Bernanke ignores.

Dave Brat has blamed the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany on the lack of "unified resistance", adding, "I have the sinking feeling that it could all happen again, quite easily".

Dave Brat believes that countries with Protestant histories have economic advantages over countries that do not have such histories, 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".

Dave Brat believes in Christ as a transformer of culture, and that world transformation can be achieved when capitalism and Christianity merge.

In 2014, Dave Brat challenged House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Republican primary.

Dave Brat's campaign was notable for its lack of resources and traditional campaign tactics.

Dave Brat was outspent by Cantor 40 to 1; Cantor spent over $5 million, while Dave Brat raised $200,000 and did not spend all of it.

An analysis of campaign filings conducted by OpenSecrets concluded that Dave Brat did not receive any donations from political action committees ; the analysis noted that it was "almost impossible to profile Dave Brat's typical donor, because he had so few".

Dave Brat's victory was described in the press as exposing a "deep schism" in the Republican Party between its conservative base and its business wing, as well as a split between establishment Republicans and Tea Party insurgents.

Dave Brat was supported by radio talk show host Mark Levin and Ann Coulter.

Dave Brat received support from, and gave credit for his win to, local Tea Party groups in Virginia, but received no funding or endorsement from national Tea Party organizations.

Dave Brat ran an anti-establishment campaign criticizing Cantor's position on illegal immigration, government bailouts and budget deals while frequently invoking God and the United States Constitution in his speeches.

Dave Brat complained that Cantor had a "crony-capitalist mentality", putting the interests of the corporate sector ahead of small businesses.

Dave Brat was favored to prevail because of the district's significant Republican enrollment advantage.

Dave Brat ran for a third term in 2018 against Henrico native and former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger.

Dave Brat was sworn in on November 12,2014, to finish Cantor's term.

On January 6,2015, Dave Brat was one of 25 House Republicans to vote against John Boehner's reelection as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Dave Brat faced heckling by 150 people at a "raucous" town hall meeting in the small town of Blackstone, Virginia, on February 21,2017.

Dave Brat was criticized for not meeting with his constituents because he claimed there were paid protesters among them.

Dave Brat said that safeguards were being put in place to ensure it did not happen again.

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

Dave Brat advocated an end to tax credits, deductions and loopholes, and called for a flatter and more efficient tax code.

On May 4,2017, Dave Brat voted to repeal Obamacare and pass the revised version of the American Health Care Act.

Dave Brat said the bill contained protections for preexisting conditions and would lead to lower prices; The Washington Post noted that the bill would have allowed insurers to charge higher premiums for individuals with preexisting conditions, and that an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office estimated that average health care premiums would increase as a result of the bill.

Dave Brat called for the National Security Agency to end bulk collection of phone records and stated his support for statutory protections for e-mail privacy.

Dave Brat supported President Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail immigration from the Muslim-majority nations of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen until better screening methods are devised.

In September 2017, Dave Brat said that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which provided temporary stay for unauthorized immigrants brought to the United as minors, allowed minors to "bring in their entire extended family once they reach a certain status" and could bring in up to four million additional immigrants.

In 2011, Dave Brat criticized the political right for simultaneously advancing the pursuit of individual liberty while pushing laws restricting abortion, gay rights and gambling, and the political left for simultaneously supporting progressive liberal individualism while coercing others to "fund every social program under the sun".

Dave Brat co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act and pledged to remove federal funding from Planned Parenthood.

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

Dave Brat was raised in a Presbyterian church and his wife is a Roman Catholic.

Dave Brat identifies as a Calvinist and lists affiliations with Christ Episcopal Church, Third Presbyterian, and Shady Grove Methodist.