ASHLAND, Va. (AP) – Republican Dave Brat, who upset then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a June primary, debated a Democratic rival at the Virginia college where they both teach.
Brat and Democrat Jack Trammell sparred Tuesday evening over the federal Affordable Care Act, immigration policy and the minimum wage in a debate at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.
Brat rode a wave of tea-party backed support to a stunning upset over Cantor last summer. Now Brat is favored to win the heavily Republican 7th Congressional District in central Virginia, which includes the Richmond-area suburbs.
Brat, an economics professor, and Trammel, who teaches sociology, have taken leave of their academic posts to campaign.
Cantor left Congress in August after seven terms representing the district. He has taken up work with a global independent investment bank.