Dave Brat hits campaign trail for first time since defeating Eric Cantor

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- A week after taking down Majority Leader Eric Cantor, tea party conservative Dave Brat is back on the campaign trail.

Brat, who decisively beat Cantor, R-Va., in a primary last Tuesday, made his first public appearance since he became the official Republican nominee for the 7th District, speaking at a Rotary Club breakfast Tuesday in Richmond.

"Today, we're hitting the ground running, meeting with people across the 7th District," he said. "When we knocked on doors and spoke to thousands of people on the campaign trail, we found that they were eager to send someone to Washington who has a deep understanding of economics and that can actually help to fix the real problems we face in this country."

Brat announced the hiring of Brian Gottstein as his communications director, and his campaign released a video Monday of the candidate shaking hands with staffers.

Gottstein previously served as the communications director for former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli when he was the state attorney general.

A professor of economics at a small college near Richmond, Brat has a momentum advantage over his Democratic opponent, Jack Trammell, who teaches sociology at the same school. Trammell became the official Democratic nominee just days before the filing deadline last week.