Politics & Government

Profile: Brian Schoeneman, 37th House District Candidate

Profile on Republican nominee Brian Schoeneman

At a Glance

  • Born: Baltimore, Maryland
  • Education:  B.A. in political science, the George Washington University, 2001. M.A in political management, the George Washington University, 2004. J.D. Catholic University of American Columbus School of Law, 2011.
  •  Family: Married, one child
  • Public Office: None
  • Profession: Legislative and Political Director, Seafarers International Union of North America.

Conservative blogger Brian Schoeneman insists that he is “a different kind of Republican.”

“I’m not involved in social issues,” Schoeneman, 34, said. “I spent much of my career in organized labor and I’ve worked in a variety of roles. I’m a guy who focuses on getting things done. We need a legislature that is effective in solving problems.” 

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Schoeneman is moving on from blogging to the blogged as he runs his own campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 37th House District. The district covers portions of Fairfax Station, Burke and Centreville. Democrat David Bulova is currently representing the district.

Schoeneman has been a blogger on several Northern Virginia political sites since 2009. He has blogged for sites Too Conservative and Bearing Drift. He also started his own site, Common Sense.

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“I liked the issues and getting to know what’s going on in Northern Virginia and after a year and a half of blogging, my wife and I were talking and I was complaining, and she said, ‘You’ve been talking about this for the last two years, when are you doing something about it?’” Schoeneman said.

Friends said that they were not surprised that Schoeneman would move on to a political path.

“The thing that strikes me the most about Brian is that he is willing to engage all newcomers. He is very always willing to get into a good discussion about things,” said Stephen Spiker, who also blogged for Too Conservative. “It’s not something you find online often.”

“I was excited to see a unique campaign for a generation where online political discourse is a lot more common,” Spiker continued.

Schoeneman began his career at George Washington University studying political science. He worked his way through school as a property manager for some of the dorms at the university.

He earned his law degree at Catholic University earlier this year. He now is the legislative director for the Seafarers International Union of North America, a maritime labor union.

Schoeneman said that some of his main priorities include spending, transportation and education. He said that as far as transportation goes, more efforts need to be focused given to road maintenance.

On Spending: “People are concerned about the debt and we need to get someone who is a steward of our tax dollars and not raise them,” Schoeneman said. “We need to focus on cutting spending first.” 

On Roads: “We’re short changing the roads system,” Schoeneman said.

Schoeneman also disagreed with some of the school board’s policy issues. He would suggest change in the board’s disciplinary policies.

“It’s not an issue of how much we’re spending, it’s policy stuff,” Schoeneman said. “One of the things I hear is that Virginia law doesn’t allow schools enough discretion in certain areas, particularly in disciplinary policy. If that’s the case, let’s fix it.”

Schoeneman also stressed to voters that he considers himself a moderate Republican.

“We need folks who can think for themselves,” Schoeneman said.


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