Earlier in his life, Schundler was a Democrat, and the State Coordinator in New Jersey for Gary Hart's 1984 campaign for President.
He served in the cabinet of Governor Chris Christie as New Jersey commissioner of education from January to August 2010, when he was dismissed.
[2] He was recruited by Harvard University, where, to help pay for his tuition, he washed dishes, cleaned bathrooms, and worked as a security guard.
After Hart lost the nomination race, Schundler began his career in finance in the sales department of Salomon Brothers.
[5] Once in office, Schundler developed a reputation as a politician who was incorruptible, which strongly resonated in a city with a long legacy of corruption dating to the Frank Hague era in local politics.
Additionally, no Republican has represented a significant portion of Jersey City in Congress in over a century, and Schundler was succeeded by a Democrat, Glenn Cunningham, in 2001.
Schundler ran on a conservative platform, which was somewhat unusual, since most New Jersey Republicans tend to be more moderate-to-liberal by national standards.
Schundler made frequent campaign appearances on the late Bob Grant's radio show to help bring voters out the polls on election day.
[7][8] Schundler also travelled to Israel, as part of his campaign to court Jewish voters in New Jersey, and while there, the historic September 11 attack on the World Trade Center occurred.
The attack caused most air traffic in the U.S. to be shut down for weeks, leaving Schundler stranded in Israel less than one month before the election.
Schundler did not run for office again until the 2005 gubernatorial campaign, but remained one of the most visible spokespeople for the more conservative wing of the Republican Party in New Jersey.
Schundler lost the primary to Doug Forrester, who had been New Jersey's Republican nominee for United States Senate in 2002.
On August 14, 2008 Schundler confirmed, in a news interview, his intent to run again for the office of Mayor of Jersey City in the 2009 election.
[12] On January 13, 2010, Governor-Elect Chris Christie announced that Schundler was his nominee to serve as New Jersey Commissioner of Education.
[14] On August 27, 2010, he was dismissed by Governor Christie after an error on a $400 million Race to the Top education grant may have contributed to New Jersey narrowly missing out on the government funding.
[18] Schundler was also Managing Partner of People Power America, LLC, which licenses TeamVolunteer, an online utility that helps political campaigns and non-profit organizations coordinate phone banks.