Summary

About

From Thomas Oh’s campaign website

Thomas Oh is Virginia’s 8th District Republican Congressional Candidate. Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Thomas understands the struggles of everyday Americans in our district. To give back to our country, Thomas enlisted then served as an Active Duty Army Officer overseas until his honorable discharge in 2017. Thomas continues to serve as a Captain in the United States Army Reserve while working in project management.

Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Law, and Society, with a minor in Intelligence Analysis and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration from George Mason University.

First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to learn about me. I am Thomas Oh, Virginia’s 8th District Congressional Candidate. I was born and raised in Northern Virginia. I received a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Law, and Society, with a concentration in Homeland Security & Justice, and a minor in Intelligence Analysis from George Mason University. I served as an Active Duty Army Officer until my honorable discharge in 2017, and continue to serve our country as a Captain in the United States Army Reserves. After transitioning from Active Duty, I began a prospective career in Project Management. While also working full time as government contractor, I am currently pursuing an MBA at GMU to further my education.​

I am the type of leader that will put my life on the line again if needed, to achieve the positive change that we need in our nation. I want to establish a government of the people, and not a government where only the well-connected wealthy rules over the everyday Americans.​

I, Thomas Oh, am among many of those of you who are struggling to achieve the American Dream and I am fully aware of those struggling to maintain their dream. I personally understand the struggles of student loans, mortgages, car notes, and credit card payments. I know that feeling of a negative net worth, by having my own debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I am not ashamed, because this is the life that many of us struggle with. I recognize the men and women fighting for a what used to be the achievable American dream. Like you, I work tirelessly to find the best job to help my family live in the 8th District, where the cost of living is exorbitantly high. Just like so many of you, I am left with less and less of a paycheck to barely pay for bills and save for retirement, while accountability for corrupt and mismanaged taxation is nonexistent. I am just another hard-working American from a family of immigrants, who wants to positively serve the people by making their American dream a possibility.​

Common sense has become a rare and ignored aspect in our government. Common sense would say that a Congressman would represent the needs of his District, not the whims of a party. In the same vein, it would be common sense to question the gridlock in Washington, which fails to better the people of this nation. With that being said, I, Thomas Oh, am a free thinker, who can analyze issues and resolve them. I always analyze biased situations, with which the paid off media irradiates from the American public. The number one issue that bothers me the most, is the fact that there are dishonest Politicians who serves themselves and their lobbyist handlers first, while neglecting their solemn duty to the American people.

Policy Positions

Civil Rights 

Anti-Discrimination

Tougher laws are needed to crush today’s major discrimination issues. Current laws such as the Civil Service Member Relief Act does not do enough to protect military reservists from being discriminated on being hired for the job. America’s heroes shouldn’t have to fight to have a fair chance for employment or employment conditions. The wages of employees need to be audited to ensure equality in the work environment. If male employees are earning more than a female supervisor, then the company should face a tax penalty and  provide proper restitution of wages for discriminating an employee or potential employee. Likewise, our sisters, daughters, mothers, and all women should not face unfair business practices. No one in this country should ever be discriminated based on their religious beliefs, ethnicity, race, age, military status, veteran status, gender affiliation, sexual orientation. We all heard the common saying, “treat others as you would like to be treated”.

Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice

At the end of the day, abortion is a tragic action but I respect the law of the land. If there is endangerment, rape, or incest on the mother I understand the need for an abortion. I also understand the belief that women have the right to their own bodies. However, there is another life that is at stake, and life is too precious.

I believe the current society does not do enough to support women who may become pregnant. I would like to support women, who become pregnant, by providing them with the tools to complete their education without having to fall behind in school. The same goes for pregnant women who wish to progress in their professional careers without any hindrance. I wish to empower women by making sure women are able to have children without worrying about: how society may view them, not completing their education on time, or falling back in their careers.

Second Amendment

I believe we should firmly protect the 2nd Amendment but I did not answer “Yes” to all the questions, because there are some skewed questions. I support putting restrictions on the sale, purchase, and possessions of firearms on those with a serious criminal history.

I support an audit, but I do not support abolishing the ATF. The ATF has stopped local gangs in criminal activities such as gun running and helps keep us safe. Criminals don’t follow the laws, but law-abiding citizens do. Thus, I do not believe most gun restrictions laws would enable the law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. They ATF has done a terrific job protecting our district!

Everyone should have the right to due process, but I answered no to question 8, because those with mental health issues may need help. In the Army, we stripped Soldiers with suicidal ideations of their weapons to protect them and I supported this as a leader and I will still support this as your congressman. There is not enough time for reason for due process, especially in a military environment.

I do not believe we should allow people to have guns in our schools, because tax payers are already paying school resource officers to be equipped with their guns to protect students. I want to establish reciprocity, aka “universal concealed carry” which would require a data base. How else would you be able to confirm if someone has a valid concealed carry permit?

I support the United Nations Small Arms Treaty, because it is a measure to prevent weapons to be purchased by our enemies. The treaty reaffirms the sovereign right of any State to regulate and control conventional arms exclusively in its own territory.

Defense & Security

Theodore Roosevelt always said, “speak softly, and carry a big stick”. I agree that we should always be ready to fight tonight and that the United States needs to proactively take actions to maintain its position as the beacon of freedom throughout the world. Strategic Patience proved to be a disaster during the Obama administration in which we are now faced with an asymmetrical position with North Korea. Passive strategies such as strategic patience only allows our enemies like North Korea to become a greater threat. The world watched as it allowed North Korea to develop its nuclear weapons program. I, Thomas Oh, am against tariffs and believe that we should provide incentives to our trading partners rather than penalizing them.

Economy & Jobs  

The current national debt exceeds $21 trillion. I will work smart to minimize waste on taxes paid by you. My experience in the military has personally shown me that there is overspending in the procurement of equipment that is barely used by the troops nor fully mission capable. We need to spend less and reallocate that money to military training operations to increase the lethality of our troops. Spend smart, eliminate the debt!

Immigration

Infrastructure