By Fort Hunt Herald
Earlier this month, Fort Hunt Herald spoke with Thomas Oh, the Republican campaigning against Democrat Rep. Don Beyer for Virginia’s 8th District.
Facing a strong incumbent in the House of Representatives running for his third term in a stubbornly blue area, Oh was the only candidate to file for the 2018 Republican ticket in this race.
Despite the uphill battle, Oh remains optimistic and was quick to offer an opinion on hot-button issues in the Arlington and Fairfax regions that make up the state’s 8th Congressional District.
We spoke to him on Sept. 4 immediately after a public debate against Beyer, hosted by the Arlington County Civic Federation.
Q: How would you represent the people of the corridor in the 8th District?
A: The biggest issue right now is that we’re divided as a nation. Congressmen get paid $175,000 per year, don’t even read the bill and act like children. We need to put personal egos aside as represent the individual citizens, whether that’s Mount Vernon or Alexandria. I’m here to represent everyone in the 8th District completely, which is why I reject all Political Action Committee (PAC) money, lobbyist money, and only accept individual contributions – because I’m going to bring a clean conscience to Congress.
Q: As a Republican candidate, where do you stand on the spectrum of supporting President Donald Trump? Are you pro-Trump?
A: It totally depends on the issue. For example, as a Korean American, I’m happy about what’s happening regarding North Korea. I’m glad the North and South Koreans were recently able to reunite their families. There are other things that I don’t agree on; for example, as a Korean American, I’m pro-immigration.”
Q: What do you think about the renaming and removal of Civil War monuments in Virginia’s 8th District?
A: I definitely think the Civil War monuments, if it’s for the Confederacy, shouldn’t be there to praise what the Confederates did. I think what we need is to have those Civil War monuments only at the battlefields to remember a dark past, because we don’t want to make the same mistakes. It was, honestly, our bloodiest and most costly war. More Americans died in that war than in any other war. That’s a fact. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes, but we shouldn’t have Confederate monuments, say, in city centers praising what happened. They should be presented in remembrance so that we don’t make the same mistakes as in the past.
Q: If they propose renaming the [Jefferson Davis and] Lee highways, would you go that far?
A: It totally depends on what the local government wants to do, because that’s a local issue and that’s what we have democracy for. I don’t know the exact numbers, but there’s a lot of controversy. In the case of renaming [Washington-Lee High School], the [Arlington] School Board actually made that decision without consulting [the electorate]. If the voters want to keep Washington-Lee, then do it, or vice versa. We have to do what the people want.
Q: What’s your pitch to the 8th District? Why are you running?
A: I was born and raised here in Northern Virginia and I’m proud to call this area my home. After serving in the military, I moved back here because it’s the place I call home. Lately, healthcare hasn’t gotten more affordable and we’re so divided as a nation. As an Army officer, you learn to put your ego aside and to not make decisions based on emotions. You make decisions objectively based on facts. You see Congress making decisions based on emotions right now, and if that happens in the military, people get killed. We can’t have that, so we need someone who can put their ego aside and not be tainted by dirty money; someone who actually does what’s best for the 8th District. That’s why I’m running.
Virginia’s 8th Congressional District
In November 2016, Beyer secured 68.4 percent of the vote against Republican rival Charles Hernick, who won 27.3 percent of the 360,676 total ballots cast.
In November 2014, Beyer won by a strong margin (63.1% percent) against Republican challenger Micah Edmond’s 31.4 percent of 203,076 total votes.
For additional context, in the November 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton and running mate Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine carried Virginia by a margin of 5.3 percent, winning 49.7 percent of the almost 4 million votes cast, compared to 44.4 percent for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Areas like Fairfax and Arlington counties in Northern Virginia helped Clinton and Kaine across the line, despite much of the rest of the state being painted red.
Oh is a former U.S. Army Ranger who was honorably discharged in 2017, but he continues to serve as a Captain in the reserve force. He has a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Law, and Society with a minor in Intelligence Analysis. He is now pursuing a Master of Business Administration from George Mason University.
To learn more about Oh, visit his campaign website: letuschangecongress.org
3 replies on “Exclusive: Q&A with Thomas Oh, Republican candidate for Virginia’s 8th”
1) Thomas Oh blocked me on Facebook BEFORE I posted anything on his personal page.
2) I posted a question on his personal page because it was publicly accessible and because Thomas Oh was using it to post campaign materials. If he doesn’t want comments on political posts, he shouldn’t be making them on a publicly-accessible page. (You do understand how social media works, right?)
3) You seem to have information about Thomas Oh’s thought processes that aren’t public. Who are, you precisely?
4) And to the extent you do have a channel of communication with Thomas Oh, answer the question: Will Thomas Oh be apologizing to Beyer and Wilson for lying about Wilson’s record?
At 9:40 in the video, Thomas Oh criticizes Don Beyer for taking money from Justin Wilson, “who voted in support of a meals tax.”
Just one problem … Wilson (the Vice Mayor of Alexandria) voted AGAINST a meals tax.
I asked Thomas Oh (on Facebook) if he would be apologizing to Beyer and Wilson. His response? He deleted the comment and blocked me from his Facebook page.
Thomas Oh: When the going gets tough, he lies and then runs away. Exactly the sort of politician we need fewer of, not more.
@Jol Silversmith: You left out the part where you became increasingly aggressive and stalkerish by continuing to attack Oh’s personal Facebook page (which is crossing the line) and YouTube page. That is the reason why you were blocked. Having concerns is one thing, but harrassment is another. Please don’t act like you are a victim here.