Cameran Drew was sitting in Kenneth Bell's civics class last year. On November 4, he beat Bell in an election for the Surry County Board of Supervisors in Virginia—by eight votes.
Drew, now 19 and a student at Virginia Peninsula Community College, ran on a platform of lowering property taxes and supporting local business. Bell, 44, had been appointed to the seat six months earlier. The race was close enough that it came down to 345 votes to 337.
What makes this story worth pausing on isn't just the improbability. It's how both men handled it. Bell, the teacher, didn't resent his former student. When people questioned Drew's age, Bell defended him. "Yes, he's young, but he's really invested in trying to make a difference," he told CBS News. After losing, Bell had only praise: "He would have been formidable against any opponent against whom he would have run."
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Start Your News DetoxDrew called Bell his "favorite civics teacher" and meant it. "We were both respectful about it, so it was never an awkward moment," Drew said. That's the part that lingers—two people with different views, one older and established, one young and ambitious, competing hard but never letting the competition turn bitter.
What Drew is actually running on
Surry County's property tax rate runs higher than neighboring areas. That's Drew's entry point. "The biggest issues I ran on were opportunities for the youth and lowering the tax rate," he said. He's not speaking theoretically. He owns Prez Productionz, works as a motivational speaker, and runs an apparel business. He knows what it costs to operate in the county.
"If you're into politics, you've got to also know some business because politics is business," he said. "They correlate so much." He's pursuing a degree in part because he sees how it connects to his broader ambitions—business, foundation work, politics. This isn't a teenager playing at civic engagement. It's someone building something.
Drew was sworn in on December 2. He plans to transfer to Virginia State University after finishing at VPCC in spring 2026. He's thinking in longer arcs than most 19-year-olds, which might be the only thing more notable than the fact he won at all.
