Chairman Charts New Course
Prince William's Stewart Seeks to Move Beyond Immigration Issue

By Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Fresh off his second election victory in consecutive years, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart styles himself as a catalyst for change within the state Republican Party on a variety of issues. He says he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as a one-note politician.

It might be hard for him to shake that impression.

Stewart was on summer vacation in Canada when another supervisor introduced a resolution to deny certain public services to illegal immigrants. But he seized on the proposal, pushing it through the board in the weeks before his reelection. Stewart, 39, who speaks in sound bites and has a youthful appearance, became the public face of Prince William's illegal immigration crackdown.

"I don't want to be known for only one thing," Stewart said after the election. "I still don't understand why [immigration] became such a huge issue. I'd like to figure that out, so I can replicate it."

Before immigration emerged as a major issue in Northern Virginia, the populist Stewart had developed a niche as a Republican in favor of containing suburban sprawl. Now, he has some political capital after the GOP's lackluster statewide showing in the fall elections. He wants to use it to help shift his party's priorities.

"The state party is sclerotic, and atrophy has set in," Stewart said. Rather than focusing on faith, family and freedom, he said, the GOP should address quality-of-life issues such as protecting the environment, easing traffic and preserving green space.

Controlled growth was Stewart's primary issue during the 2006 special election for the chairman's seat. This fall, however, he hardly mentioned it in a rematch against Democrat Sharon E. Pandak. His campaign centered almost entirely on fighting illegal immigration. He won a four-year term with a comfortable 55 percent of the vote.

Stewart has a knack for picking issues that present obvious targets for attack, whether developers or illegal immigrants. Some view that as a gift. Others see him as opportunistic and poll-driven. Either way, his take-no-prisoners approach appears to be paying off so far.

County board chairmen often have a low public profile, though Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) of neighboring Fairfax County is a notable exception.

Former Prince William Chairman Kathleen K. Seefeldt, a Democrat, said the job entails bringing stakeholders together to formulate policy in the best interest of the community. Chairmen also should develop good working relations with counterparts in the region, she said. Seefeldt criticized the process leading up to approval of the county's anti-illegal immigration resolution as flawed and divisive -- a rebuke of Stewart's leadership.

"It saddened me, because I believe in building community," Seefeldt said.

Stewart was raised in a Democratic home, with a father who was a longshoreman and union man. His background suggests an interest in international affairs. He earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, a training ground for future diplomats. In his junior year, Stewart studied in Poland and was struck by the effects of Communist rule. That helped cement his conservatism. "I saw what a heavy-handed economy and government can lead to, which is poverty and misery," Stewart said.

Stewart failed the foreign service exam a couple of times, then decided to teach English in Japan. That's where he met his wife, Maria, who was born in Sweden. They have been married 13 years. She is a permanent resident, working on her citizenship. He is an international trade lawyer for the K Street firm Foley & Lardner.

The couple moved to Prince William from Fairfax in 2001, when Maria was pregnant with their second child, Luke. They had been living in an apartment in Baileys Crossroads but wanted more space and a yard. Everything they saw in Fairfax was out of their price range, so they settled on a 3,000-square-foot house in Occoquan.

When Stewart moved to Prince William, his political r¿sum¿ was thin. Within a year he was vice chairman of the local Republican Party. Responding to questions about whether the move from Fairfax to Prince William helped pave the way for his political career, Stewart said: "I always wanted to get involved in politics, but I didn't choose a place to live based on that."

Stewart's first try for elective office was a brief run against state Sen. Linda T. "Toddy" Puller (D-Fairfax). But he jettisoned that race when a seat on the Board of Supervisors became open. He was elected to represent the Occoquan district in 2003, and moved up to the chairmanship after he won the 2006 special election to replace Republican Sean T. Connaughton.

Stewart showed early signs he would be a combative chairman, according to Supervisor John D. Jenkins (D-Neabsco). An effective chairman should be a conduit between supervisors, Jenkins said. "It is not proper for him to try and realign the priorities of the government," he said. "We don't want to see our government shortchanged in the areas of transportation, education or public safety."

Supervisors frequently point out that Stewart has no more power than the seven supervisors on the board. Like him, they all have one vote.

"He does have the authority to establish the agenda, but the board has the ability to amend the agenda," Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles) said. "He doesn't have a veto over board action, nor do I believe he has attempted to exert, implicitly or explicitly, that kind of power."

Nohe added: "Corey doesn't shy away from putting himself in the middle of controversy. He relishes being in the spotlight."

Nohe said he doesn't anticipate the dynamic between board members changing. Come January, there will only be one new supervisor, Frank J. Principi (D-Woodbridge), who is replacing Democrat Hilda Barg.

There is talk that Stewart might run for Congress, with immigration a ready-made issue. But Stewart plays down the speculation.

"I still don't have a grand scheme," he said. "Life is far too unpredictable to plan everything out."

Some Republicans have been privately critical of his approach.

"In one year, he's been able to alienate all perspective homebuyers and businesses who might want to come to the county," said one Prince William Republican activist who spoke on condition of anonymity because he must deal with the chairman. "If you are a well-to-do family of color, you don't feel welcome. If you are white middle class, you're sold on the image of a marauding band of illegal immigrants at every street corner. And businesses don't want to be caught in the firestorm."

Two of Stewart's top goals are to slow residential development and make developers pay more for roads, schools and parks. He lost a significant development-related vote in October, failing to persuade the board to approve a proposal to raise impact fees charged to developers, known as proffers. Stewart also wants to keep a lid on taxes and push for enforcement of the anti-illegal immigration resolution. He said he plans to reach out to the Hispanic community.

"We need to cautiously push ahead, regardless of the opposition. We have a special obligation to make sure it is enforced fairly, in a way that withstands legal scrutiny," Stewart said. "Now that the hysteria has died down, we can start having more rational dialogue. I don't like battling for the sake of battling. I like to win."