Corey Stewart (politician)
| Corey Stewart | |
|---|---|
| File:Corey Stewart Prince William.png | |
| Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors | |
| In office January 2007 – December 2019 |
|
| Preceded by | Sean T. Connaughton[1] |
| Succeeded by | Ann Wheeler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 1, 1968 Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Woodbridge[2] |
| Religion | Catholic |
Corey Alan Stewart (born August 1, 1968) is a retired American politician who served four terms as the At-Large Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2006 to 2019, where he represented over 450,000 residents. Stewart was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2018 in the commonwealth of Virginia, losing to Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine by more than a 15-point margin. In his campaign, he had portrayed himself as an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump.
An advocate of Southern nationalism, Stewart has a reputation as a fighter for conservative issues, most notably for his 2007 crackdown on illegal immigration, which drew national media attention. In December 2015, Donald Trump announced that he had selected Stewart to chair his presidential campaign in Virginia. In 2016, Stewart announced his intention to run for Governor of Virginia. That same year, he co-chaired the Republican Party of Virginia's "Team Virginia" field and communications campaign.
Contents
Early life and education
Stewart was born in Duluth, Minnesota on August 1, 1968 as the fourth of five children of Earl and Beverly Stewart. The Stewart family traces its origins to Avernish, Scotland, from where it emigrated in 1851 to Lucknow, Ontario, Canada. Stewart's ancestor, Alexander Stewart, was a ship captain on the Great Lakes, and the family eventually moved to Duluth, where Stewart's father was a third-generation longshoreman.
Stewart earned an academic scholarship to attend Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, where he earned his bachelors degree in 1991. He was the first member of his family to attend college. Stewart graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1997.
Career
Stewart moved to Virginia in 1998 to begin his career as an international trade attorney with the Washington, DC office of Gardner Carton & Douglas. He then moved to the Washington office of Foley & Lardner until 2009, when he formed Stewart PLLC, an international trade and technology transfer firm.
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors
Elections
Stewart served four terms as Chairman At-Large in Prince William, the second largest locality in the Commonwealth, with a population of 450,000 residents. Fifty-five percent of county residents are minorities. Stewart was elected county-wide, and he holds the distinction of being the only Republican who, since 2009, has been able to win countywide elections in the county, a politically pivotal locality in Northern Virginia which is considered a "must win" jurisdiction in state-wide elections. He was first elected Chairman in a special election held on November 7, 2006, replacing Sean Connaughton. He was subsequently reelected by large margins in 2007, 2011 and 2015.[3]
Illegal Immigration
In 2007, Stewart led Prince William County in adopting an illegal immigration enforcement policy that generated a substantial amount of controversy and national media attention. The policy--which is considered to be the toughest crackdown on illegal immigration by any state or locality in the United States--requires county police officers to check the immigration status of every person arrested. Under the authority of the 287(g) program, Prince William County jail officers then coordinate with federal ICE officials to begin the deportation process. By 2015, more than 7,500 illegal aliens who had committed crimes in the county had been handed over to ICE for deportation. Stewart credited the policy with the near 50 percent decline in the county's crime rate since 2007.
Second Amendment
Stewart led a successful effort to eliminate the concealed carry handgun fee in Prince William County. Although a small state-mandated portion of the fee remains, Prince William County became the first county in Virginia to eliminate the fee, and other counties in Virginia are now attempting to follow suit.[4]
Budget Hawk
During his tenure as Chairman, Stewart pushed through a series of spending reductions, which kept average inflation-adjusted property tax bills flat. Taxes in the County were, on average, 30 percent below those of other counties in the Northern Virginia region.[5]
Campaign for Lieutenant Governor
Stewart was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor in the 2013 election. Although Stewart was unsuccessful in the seven-candidate Republican field, he received the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots combined endorsement and raised his statewide profile, which ultimately led to other statewide endeavors.
Virginia State Chairman Donald Trump for President
In December 2015, Republican U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump announced that he had chosen Stewart to chair his campaign in Virginia.[6] Stewart has been an outspoken proponent for Trump in national media.[7]
Campaign for Governor
At the Virginia State Republican Convention on April 30, 2016, Stewart announced his intention to run for Governor of Virginia. Although initially considered an underdog in the Virginia Governor's race, Donald Trump's victory in securing the Republican nomination has thrust Stewart, widely considered to be the most conservative of the potential candidates for Virginia Governor, into the forefront of Virginia GOP politics. [8][9]
Personal life
Stewart married Maria Sjöström, a native of Nordmaling, Sweden, in 1994. The two met in 1992 in Tokyo, Japan, where Stewart was teaching English in a private English school. They have two children, Isaac and Luke, and are members of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.
References
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- ↑ About Corey
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.insidenova.com/news/prince_william/prince-william-supervisors-slash-price-for-concealed-carry-permits/article_b61f6116-da91-11e5-a430-53aa7b5d8a77.html
- ↑ http://www.northernvatimes.com/gainesville/article/splitting-the-pie-pw-county-schools-set-budgets-tax-rates
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/why-donald-trump-chose-corey-stewart-to-chair-his-virginia-campaign/2015/12/16/b37f62d2-a335-11e5-b53d-972e2751f433_story.html
- ↑ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/cruz-forces-still-question-donald-trumps-conservative-cred/
- ↑ http://wvtf.org/post/virginia-gubernatorial-hopefuls-gearing-2017#stream/0
- ↑ http://thebullelephant.com/2017-governors-race-begun/
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors 2007 – 2019 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
