Dan grew up here, watched Northern Virginia become a global center of innovation, and built a career around service, leadership, and solving difficult problems. Now he is running for Congress because citizenship sometimes requires leaving the sidelines and stepping forward.
A life rooted in Northern Virginia.
MEET DAN SCHAEFER
NORTHERN VIRGINIA ROOTS
Watching a community grow - and choosing to serve it.
I grew up in Northern Virginia and have watched it evolve from a quiet suburban community with deep rural roots into one of the world's leading centers of innovation, technology, education, and public service.
Today, our region draws some of the best and brightest people, ideas, and institutions from around the world. That transformation has created extraordinary opportunity, but it has also brought new pressures on families, schools, transportation, housing, and the institutions that hold our community together.
Through every stage of that growth, our greatest strength has remained the same: our people. Northern Virginia is built by neighbors who value hard work, public service, education, innovation, and the belief that each generation should leave something stronger for the next.
Learning to solve problems
I attended Virginia Tech for my undergraduate education. After graduation, I began my career as a consultant, helping organizations understand difficult problems and improve how they operated.
After the September 11 attacks, I felt called to serve my community more directly. I left consulting and joined the fire and rescue community, where I have been blessed to serve my neighbors as a professional firefighter, paramedic, educator, and public safety leader.
That work taught me that systems matter because people depend on them. When communication breaks down, when leaders stop listening, or when organizations fail to prepare, ordinary families bear the consequences.
Service shaped my view of leadership
In emergency services, leadership is not a performance. It is preparation, judgment, teamwork, accountability, and calm action when circumstances are difficult. The work is measured by outcomes, not applause.
Whether responding to emergencies, developing paramedics, or improving public safety programs, my mission has remained the same: solve problems, build trust, and help other people succeed.
A student for life
As my career progressed, I returned to school and earned a Master of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering from George Washington University. Systems engineering reinforced what public service had already taught me: define problems honestly, listen carefully, use evidence, and measure success by results rather than intentions.
At a glance
Northern Virginia native
Husband and father of three
Virginia Tech graduate
Former consultant
Career Firefighter and Paramedic
Educator and public safety leader
Master’s in engineering management and systems engineering
Independent candidate for Congress
“Our Community’s greatest strength has always been its people.”
Experience built around responsibility.
A PATH OF SERVICE
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Grew up here
Watched the region grow from a quiet suburb with rural roots into a global hub of innovation.
VIRGINIA TECH
Built a foundation
Studied, learned to work across teams, and developed a practical approach problem solving
AFTER 9/11
Answered a calling
Left consulting to serve in the fire rescue community. Became a servant to his neighbors.
TODAY
Stepping forward
Running as an Independent to bring principled leadership back to public life.
Leadership is what we do for others.
These principles have guided my work in public safety, my family, and this campaign.
VALUES THAT GUIDE ME
Service before status
Public office should be an act of stewardship, not a platform for personal power.
Evidence before ideology
Good decisions begin with honest facts, careful listening, and measurable outcomes.
Citizenship requires participation
Democracy works only when ordinary people are willing to step forward and take responsibility.
Our children deserve adults who lead by example.
WHY I CHOSE TO RUN
For a long time, I was reluctant to run for public office. I understood the possible consequences for my family, especially the potential impact on our children's well-being. I encouraged friends and colleagues to consider running, but many shared the same concern about entering today's political environment.
Eventually, my wife and I concluded that we faced a choice. We could remain outside politics and one day regret not speaking up for our children's future, or we could step forward and work to bring people together around a better path.
We decided that citizenship is not something we can teach only in words. We are raising three school-age children—one in elementary school, one in middle school, and one in high school—and we are teaching them to serve others, respect differences, keep their word, and leave their community stronger than they found it.
We cannot ask them to live those principles tomorrow if we are unwilling to live them ourselves today.
Why you will not see our children in campaign materials:
They are young, and they deserve safety, privacy, and the freedom to have a childhood outside politics. They also deserve adults who will invest every effort in preserving the framework for fruitful lives long after we are gone.
WHY CONGRESS
Government should work for the people it serves.
I am running because our challenges are real, but so is our capacity to solve them. Northern Virginia has always been shaped by people who stepped forward, built, served, and led. This campaign is an invitation to do that work together.