A 23 Year-Old Took Out House Majority Leader Eric Cantor

By now, chances are you have heard the news that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor got his butt-kicked in the Virginia GOP Primary by Tea Party-endorsed newcomer Dave Brat. But, 23 year-old Zachary Werrell is responsible for taking out Cantor in a monumental election, which may set the stage for the 2014 midterms.

Werrell, Brat’s campaign manager, just turned 23 years-old last month. Werrell, immediately after Brat’s victory gave an exclusive interview to the Washington Examiner. Here’s a snippet of it:

On how Cantor’s negative ads affected Brat’s win:

“It was a huge part. We just harnessed it. You just stay positive and you tell the truth. You stay factual, you don’t get mean, you don’t get nasty. As Dave said at the 7th District convention, ‘I’m not running against Eric Cantor as a person, I’m running against Eric Cantor on policy, it’s nothing personal.’ And that’s the truth.”

On their ads:

“We had some Internet ads, and money started coming through so we threw that [TV] ad up about a week ago. As the money came, I did my best to spend it as fast as I could. And then over the last few days it was coming in faster than I could even spend.”

On their fundraising surge toward the end of the race:

“Eric Cantor’s flip-flopping on amnesty made it very easy to label him as a flip-flopper. And then that got national attention when Eric Cantor said, ‘Let’s make a deal with Obama’ the Friday before the primary.”

And that comment had a big impact on their money?

“It helped with the media. Every time [Brat’s] name was mentioned in the media, the money rolled in.”

And amnesty was a big part of Brat’s earned media?

“That was a huge driver of a lot of it. Like with Laura Ingraham’s stuff — amnesty. With Mark Levin, his big pet peeve — amnesty. Etc, etc.”

Werrell, who just changed the game for elections to come, was interviewed by Brat at a Panera Bread and has been sleeping on Brats’ couch during the campaign. The victory goes to show, that the political insiders do not have the stronghold they once had.

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