Blogging Teacher's Husband to Run for Office

The husband of blogging teacher Natalie Munroe is running for political office.

Brian Munroe, husband of the Central Bucks East teacher who made national headlines last year for blogging negative comments about her students and colleagues, is circulating nominating petitions to challenge state Rep. Bernie O’Neill for the 29th District.

"We’re looking good and I’m very excited about it," Munroe told DoylestownPatch Friday afternoon. "I’ve had a tremendous amount of support from everyone, including the Warminster Democrats. I’ve been going door to door with the petition process, and a lot of people are anti-incumbent. That’s one of the reasons I decided to run."

Munroe, 38, had been a police officer in Radnor Township for 10 years when he was injured in a car crash on duty, he said Friday. He retired from the force and currently is a stay-at-home dad to the couple’s two children.

The national spotlight shone hotly on the Munroes one year ago this week, when Natalie Munroe’s students about them on her blog. The students circulated the link, their families became outraged, and the school district suspended her for a time while administrators tried to figure out what to do.

In the end, Munroe , where she teaches English.

On Friday, Brian Munroe said he thought hard about the incident before deciding to run for public office.

"I really thought about that before I made the determination to run. I do not see that as a negative," Munroe said. "What happened in regards to my wife - you can’t go through that as a family and not have that affect you. The one positive I can say is, the amount of support that was coming in to us during the peak of that was tremendous."

The 29th district stretches from Warminster, where the Munroes live, up through Buckingham, the home of , and into the Solebury/New Hope area. O'Neill has held the seat since 2003.

With the filing deadline looming next week, Munroe said he will be busy the next couple days.

"It’s supposed to snow tonight, but I’ll put some snow boots on," he said Friday. “We’ve got one weekend left, and I plan on going door to door.”

Munroe said he expects his campaign website, www.votemunroe.com, to go live soon.