Allyson Schwartz
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Allyson Schwartz (née Young; born October 3, 1948) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented parts of Montgomery County and
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...
in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
from 2005 to 2015 and Northeast and
Northwest Philadelphia Northwest Philadelphia is a section of the city of Philadelphia. The official boundary is Stenton Avenue to the north, the Schuylkill River to the southwest, Northwestern Avenue to the northwest, Roosevelt Boulevard to the south, and Wister Str ...
in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1991 to 2005. She has finished second in a statewide Democratic Party primary twice: for United States Senate in 2000 and for Governor in 2014. Schwartz was also National Chair for Recruitment and Candidate Services for the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...
. In the 2014 election, Schwartz was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for
Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
.


Early life, education, and health care career

Schwartz was born Allyson Young in
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, to Everett and Renee (née Perl) Young. Her mother left
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in 1938 after
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
annexed
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, and came to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where she settled at a
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish
foster home Foster care is a system in which a underage, minor has been placed into a ward (law), ward, group home (Residential Child Care Community, residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, ref ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Her father was a
dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...
in
Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...
, and a veteran of the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. She has a brother, Neal, and two sisters, Nancy and Dale. Schwartz graduated from the Calhoun School, on the
Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...
of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, in 1966 and then enrolled at
Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by ...
in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. She earned a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in sociology from Simmons in 1970, as well as a
Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work ...
degree from
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
in 1972. She worked as assistant director of the Philadelphia Health Services Department from 1972 to 1975, and executive director of the Elizabeth Blackwell Center, a reproductive health clinic in Philadelphia, from 1975 to 1988.


Pennsylvania Senate


Electoral history

In 1990, Schwartz ran for Pennsylvania's 4th senate seat, based in Northwest and
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...
. She won the Democratic primary with 50% of the vote, defeating Jeff Blum (28%) and Robert Blasi (22%). In the general election, Schwartz defeated incumbent Republican State Senator Joe Rocks 58%–42%. Redistricting pushed Schwartz's seat into Montgomery County. In 1994, she won re-election to a second term by defeating Republican Tom Scott 82%–18%. In 1998, she won re-election to a third term unopposed. In
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
, she won re-election to a fourth term defeating Republican Ron Holt, the Montgomery County Register of Wills, 82%–18%.


Tenure

During her first term, Schwartz was instrumental in Pennsylvania's legislative efforts to provide health care coverage to the children of middle-class families, leading to the creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1992. CHIP served as the model for the federal plan that now provides health insurance to millions of children. In a 2002
PoliticsPA PoliticsPA.com is a website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania. Content The website reports on political and campaign news in Pennsylvania, from the state legislature up to federal races. The editors write occasional features, like the ...
feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, she was named the "Best Dressed," to which she responded "I appreciate the honor...it must be the scarves."


2000 U.S. Senate election

In
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, she decided to challenge Republican U.S. Senator
Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...
.
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
-area U.S. Congressman Ron Klink won the crowded, six-candidate Democratic primary with a plurality of 41% of the vote. Schwartz ranked second with 27% of the vote, dominating the southeastern part of the state, most notably Philadelphia (60%) and Montgomery (62%) counties. She also won two counties outside of the region: Centre (33%) and Union (38%). However, this was not enough to overcome Klink's dominance in the western part of the state. Schwartz did not have to give up her state senate seat to run in the Democratic primary for the U. S. Senate; Pennsylvania state senators serve staggered four-year terms, and Schwartz was not up for reelection until 2002.


U.S. House of Representatives


Electoral history

In 2003, Democratic U.S. Congressman Joe Hoeffel, of
Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district The 13th congressional district of Pennsylvania is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The district contains all of Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Perry counties. ...
decided not to run for a fourth term, in order to challenge Republican U.S. Senator
Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...
. Schwartz had originally planned to run for
Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...
, but changed her plans after Hoeffel's announcement. In early 2004, she moved from Philadelphia to
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. The borough was settled in abou ...
in Montgomery County, where she still lives today. She won the Democratic primary, narrowly defeating former
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
deputy mayor and
National Constitution Center The National Constitution Center is a non-profit institution that is devoted to the study of the Constitution of the United States. Located at the Independence Mall (Philadelphia), Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the center is a ...
director Joe Torsella 52%–48%. She won 62% of Montgomery while Torsella won 57% of Philadelphia. While most former state legislators raise comparatively more money through PACs than individual donations, she raised $4,597,032 from individual donations and comparatively little ($558,376) in PAC donations. The 13th had historically been a classic Northeastern "Yankee Republican" district, but had become increasingly Democratic in recent years, especially after it was pushed into Philadelphia after the 2000 census. A Republican presidential candidate has not carried it since 1988, and it has been in Democratic hands for all but four years since 1993. In the general election, she defeated Republican Melissa Brown 56% to 41%, winning both counties. In
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, Schwartz was re-elected to a second term, defeating Raj Bhakta, a contestant on ''The Apprentice 2'', 66% to 34%. In
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, she was re-elected to a third term, defeating Republican attorney Marina Kats, 63% to 35%. In
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, she was reelected a fourth time, defeating businessman Dee Adcock 56% to 44%. The 12-point winning margin was the smallest in her congressional career. In
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, after redistricting, Schwartz's district was given a larger Democratic majority when it was pushed further into Philadelphia, with 52% of the district's vote cast in Philadelphia. She won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Republican Joe Rooney 69% to 31%.


Tenure

Schwartz was a member of the
New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...
and was the chair of the New Democrat Coalition Taskforce on Health. In this position, she had actively pushed for the greater use of interoperable and secure
electronic prescribing Electronic prescription (e-prescribing or e-Rx) is the computer-based electronic generation, transmission, and filling of a medical prescription, taking the place of paper and faxed prescriptions. E-prescribing allows a physician, physician assista ...
systems throughout the country in an attempt to decrease medical errors as well as costs and liability to providers, health systems and patients. In January 2014, Schwartz resigned from the taskforce chairmanship in the New Democratic Coalition. The first piece of legislation Schwartz introduced after being elected to Congress focused on providing tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed veterans. The bill was signed into law in 2007. In 2011, Schwartz introduced the Hiring Our Veterans Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in November of that year. The Hiring Our Veterans Act increased the tax credit for employers that hire veterans with a service connected disability who have been unemployed for six months or more, veterans who have been unemployed for at least four weeks, and veterans, not necessarily with disability, who have been unemployed for at least six months. In 2012, Schwartz introduced the Servicemembers' Access to Justice Act to improve the enforcement of Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. Schwartz was backed by Senator Bob Casey, who introduced this legislation in the Senate on May 23, 2012 (Schwartz, 2012). Schwartz was the first Democratic member of the House of Representatives to call for Rep.
Anthony Weiner Anthony David Weiner ( born September 4, 1964) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States) ...
to resign following his photo scandal. Schwartz was known as one of the leading health care experts in government. She authored several key provisions of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...
, including increasing access to primary care, banning pre-existing conditions exclusions and allowing young adults to remain on their parent's health coverage. She is pro-choice and received a 100% rating from
NARAL Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose rest ...
in 2011. She voted twice against Republican-led efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, and supported legislation requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortion care to women who could die without it.


2014 gubernatorial election

Schwartz announced her intention to give up her House seat to challenge incumbent Republican Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former prosecutor who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was also attorney general of Pen ...
, who was up for re-election in 2014. On April 8, 2013, Schwartz officially launched her campaign. In February 2013, Schwartz stated that she would not run for re-election for the United States House of Representatives. Ultimately, she was defeated by
Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2023. He previously served as chairman and CEO of his business, The Wolf Organization, and l ...
in the Democratic primary.


Later career

After losing the Democratic primary for governor of Pennsylvania, Schwartz became the president and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group funded by health insurance companies. The organization has been criticized as a
front group A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...
for the health insurance industry. She left the group in January 2021 after 6 years at the helm.


Personal life

Schwartz is married to David Schwartz, a cardiologist, and they live in
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. The borough was settled in abou ...
. They have two sons.


See also

*
List of Jewish members of the United States Congress This is a list of Jewish members of the United States Congress. , there are 10 American Jews, Jewish senators and 25 Jewish members of the House of Representatives serving in the United States Congress. Senate Elected to the Senate, but not ...
*
Women in the United States House of Representatives Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, since 1917 following the election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Congress. In total, 396 women ...


References

*Berkman, Michael, and James Eisenstein. “State Legislators as Candidates: The Effects of Prior Experience on Legislative Behavior and Fundraising,” Political Science Quarterly, 52, no. 3 (1999): 481–498.


External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Allyson 1948 births Living people American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American social workers Bryn Mawr College alumni Female members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish American women in politics Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Simmons University alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Women in Pennsylvania politics 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly