Nordvig saw Brat speak at a fundraiser for E.W. Jackson, the conservative minister who nabbed the state GOP’s nomination for lieutenant governor last year, only to be trounced in the general election by Democrat Ralph S. Northam.
“I asked him 45 minutes of questions afterward . . . about what would he do about deficit spending, what would he do about Obamacare, what would he do about amnesty . . . and he gave very satisfactory answers,” said Nordvig, who described Brat as “presidential-looking” — important in an era of televised campaigns. “Between his appearance and his bearing and his answers to tough questions, I knew we had the right man for the job.”
The results Tuesday left him and the other supporters “crazy happy,” Nordvig said. “There’s a lot of, ‘can’t believe this has happened,’ just a wonderful disbelief. Just absolutely thrilled.”
On Fox host Sean Hannity’s show after the victory, Brat said: “I was blessed. I mean, it’s a miracle. . . . God acts through people. And God acted through the people.”
Brat also cited immigration as a difference-maker in the campaign, saying politicians are beholden to the Chamber of Commerce. “They want cheap labor, and that’s going to lower wages for everybody else,” he said.
Brat has long reveled in poking the establishment, talking up battles against the “intellectual elite” while at Princeton, where he earned a master’s degree in divinity, and against “the powerful elite” at American University, where he received his PhD in economics.
His campaign bio points to his time as an economic adviser to Virginia governors, work that prompted an accusation from Cantor that Brat had been too chummy with former Democratic governor Timothy M. Kaine.
After about a decade at Randolph-Macon, Brat took a more direct role in politics. In 2005, he took an unpaid position as an adviser to state Sen. Walter A. Stosch (R-Henrico), co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. In that position, Brat researched higher-education initiatives, including a proposal to create a grant program allowing underprivileged students to move beyond high school.
“He wanted some exposure to the legislative process, and I was glad to have him,” Stosch said Tuesday. “Both of us have an interest in education — particularly in economically deprived young people who, without opportunity, would not be able to go beyond high school.”
Stosch said Brat expressed an interest in entering electoral politics in the years he worked for him — at one point putting his name forward to fill a House of Delegates seat. But when Brat pursued his congressional run, he could not count on Stosch’s open support: Cantor was also a friend and former aide to Stosch.