(NewsNation) — A 21-year-old college senior defeated a 10-term incumbent in the Republican primary to win a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
East Carolina University student Wyatt Gable narrowly defeated 84-year-old Congressman George Cleveland in the recent primary election.
In an interview Monday on NewsNation's “On Balance,” Gable said he decided to run after becoming dissatisfied with COVID-19 policies during his senior year of high school and freshman year of college. ”
Gable acknowledged that he was young for a state representative, but noted that the Founding Fathers were the same age at the time of the nation's founding. He criticized the White House leadership's experience as “not really leading us anywhere.”
Gable said that while being aware of fiscal issues is important for his generation in the long term, cultural issues such as bathroom policy, gun rights and immigration are important issues he wants to address now. He emphasized the need to teach U.S. history thoroughly so as not to “repeat” the flaws of the past.
“What I want to focus on is education. We teach history in our education system and move away from thinking about why America is the way it is. It's very difficult to teach everyone everything, good and bad. “It's important because we are flawed, but as a country, we are the best that we can be, and there's no denying that,” Gable said.
Gable expressed interest in potentially pursuing higher-level positions such as governor or U.S. Senate in the future, saying he doesn't want to be stuck in one seat for decades like his former opponents.
Mr. Cleveland, a former Marine Corps drill instructor, narrowly lost to Mr. Gable, who heads the ECU chapter of Turning Point USA, a young conservative activist group. Gable's campaign website says he will work to cut taxes, restore home economics classes in public schools and improve health care facilities.
The state House seat is considered a Republican stronghold, and Gable is the favorite in November's general election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.