Congressional staffer profile: For Thomas Qualtere, theater led to a career in politics

Position: Communications Director for Rep. Mike Kelly. R-Pa.

Alma mater: Skidmore College, Bachelor of Arts in two majors: Theater and Government.

Age: 30

Washington Examiner: How did you get involved in politics when you started out in college as a theater major?

Qualtere: I went to school [in 2004] to study acting. For most of my life up until that point, that was my goal. That was my dream — to be an actor on stage and on screen, and hopefully I would end up in New York City or Los Angeles. I’ve been doing it since second grade and was in love with it … Skidmore has a phenomenal performing arts department, and that’s what led me there.

But 2004 was also a time of a very contentious [presidential] election, and that was the election that activated my politics. I come from a conservative family with a conservative upbringing … going into Skidmore, I was a lower case “c” conservative. I had no interest in politics whatsoever … Skidmore is a very, very liberal college, with a very, very liberal student body and very liberal administration.

I found out very quickly — even though I had gone there with the intention to study acting — that not affiliating with the left, not being a Democrat, you know, not being liberal, had its consequences …

And eventually, that lower case “c” turned into a capital “C,” and eventually, I became active with the very small Young Republicans club at Skidmore … As a sanctuary, I flocked to this group.

Washington Examiner: How did you get to Washington?

Qualtere: By the end of freshman year I was the secretary [of the Young Republican Assembly] … by the start of my sophomore year, I was co-president. By the time I was a senior, I was president. Because I’m stubborn, I kept the theater major … [and politics] became my career path.

When I left Skidmore, I came straight down here to Washington to work, and my first internship was at the Heritage Foundation in the fall of 2008.

During school after I had made an early switch to politics, I found myself coming to Washington as much as possible for every conference … and every excuse I had I would come to Washington because I love politics. I love conservative politics.

Washington Examiner: Did you go to the Conservative Political Action Committee, CPAC, conferences?

Qualtere: Yes, CPAC, the Young America’s Foundation [or YAF] — all these groups and gatherings that I became affiliated with and couldn’t get enough of — I interned for YAF in the summer of 2007 and worked with them to bring back at college big-time speakers such as [former Attorney General] John Ashcroft, Dinesh D’Souza, Harvey Mansfield from Harvard and many others. So we became a force to be reckoned with on campus, and that inspired me to continue to pursue this with everything I had.

… By the end of school, my path was set, and I was marching full force toward changing the country [politically] and full force toward what I viewed as a more necessary path.

… Through the fall of 2008, the Bush administration was coming to an end, and we lost that election and lot of people were out of jobs. It was a tough time to be a Republican in Washington. It was not easy, but a job became available in the president’s office [at the Heritage Foundation]. … a very long story short, I got it.

So for two years, I served at the side of [former Heritage founder and President] Dr. Ed Feulner as his wordsmith, as his personal researcher, and that changed my life – the people I met, the connections I made, the things I was able to do and see.

Washington Examiner: You went on to meet and to work for Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, when he was conference chairman as a speechwriter. How did you end up with Rep. Mike Kelly as a communications director?

Qualtere: [With Hensarling] I served as sort of a ghostwriter at large for the conference … from that perch, being in leadership, you get to see every office in the conference and get to know so many members … and one who stuck out to me from very early on was Mike Kelly. The guy is larger-than-life in every way and a natural-born communicator. He has a gift.

So fast-forward two years and Jeb Hensarling was leaving the conference [chairmanship position] to become chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and I was looking to take over my own press shop … Mike Kelly was looking for a new communications director to revamp his media operations, and it was a match made in heaven, and I’ve been with him now for just over four years.

Washington Examiner: So you witnessed the Trump campaign from a unique perspective. What was it like when your boss endorsed someone that the Washington establishment was rejecting at the time?

Qualtere: … [Kelly] had been talking about Donald Trump as a candidate in a way that I didn’t fully understand until I went with him last year in April for the Pennsylvania primary. And that’s when I finally left the fake reality that is the D.C. bubble and went to what many are calling Trump country – Butler County, Pa.

I saw it. I felt it, and that changed my outlook completely and permanently. From that moment on, I understood that there is no other way that this primary could go. [I knew he was] definitely going to win … the fervor and the passion and the absolute loyalty of these everyday Pennsylvanians, these everyday Americans toward him, it was something I’ve never seen before.

… That was reaffirmed again when we went back to Pennsylvania last summer and last fall. And the energy and electricity only grew.

Washington Examiner: So what is your role now in facilitating communications with the White House and other members who are also supportive of Trump who are looking to your office to get information about what Trump is thinking?

Qualtere: Well, all the members of the so-called Trump inner circle have become very close over the past year … and that extends to the staff level as well.

We’re on the front lines of the revolution in Congress, and there’s no place else my boss or I personally would rather be.

Washington Examiner: Do you get any free time during these busy news days on Capitol hill, and if so, how do you spend it?

Qualtere: When I have free time, I try to spend it with good friends and usually with good food and good drinks in the mix. Close, loyal friends are a commodity, and I treasure them.

Washington Examiner: You are half-Italian through your father and say you like great food. What is your favorite Italian restaurant in Washington?

Qualtere: I live in Georgetown, and there’s actually a place that’s located near where I live. It’s called La Perla [in Foggy Bottom], a place I just started going to relatively recently … I was sold instantly, so that’s a meeting grounds for friends that I like to visit.

… I’m also very much into horse racing. I basically grew up at the racetrack [living in Saratoga Springs]. I don’t just love the sport of racing but the history of horse racing. Saratoga is my favorite place in the world. Saratoga in the summertime at the racetrack by day, Saratoga Lake by afternoon, that’s heaven on earth for me.

I also enjoy music too … My favorite artist of all time is Meat Loaf … For better or for worse [he’s someone] that’s associated with me by colleagues, friends, college friends and going back to high school and family.

I went out and met him in 2014 – flew out to Las Vegas to meet him [before a concert.] … He had a background as an actor at first as well. Funny. And you know [the meeting] was awesome. And now there’s a musical based on the whole [Bat Out of Hell] trilogy, which I consider the greatest musical project ever created. It is based in London, but I hope to see it when it comes to Broadway.