Allyson Schwartz

Her mother left Vienna in 1938 after Germany annexed Austria, and came to the United States, where she settled at a Jewish foster home in Philadelphia.

Her father was a dentist in Flushing, Queens, and a veteran of the Korean War.

She has a brother, Neal, and two sisters, Nancy and Dale.

Allyson Schwartz (née Young; born October 3, 1948) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015 and Northeast and Northwest Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1991 to 2005.

Schwartz graduated from the Calhoun School, on the Upper West Side of New York City, in 1966 and then enrolled at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Simmons in 1970, as well as a Master of Social Work degree from Bryn Mawr College 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.

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 1990, Schwartz ran for Pennsylvania's 4th senate seat, based in Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia.

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.

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 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.

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.

In 2000, she decided to challenge Republican U.S. Senator Rick Santorum.

Pittsburgh-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.

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.

In 2002, she won re-election to a fourth term defeating Republican Ron Holt, the Montgomery County Register of Wills, 82%–18%.

In a 2002 PoliticsPA 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."

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.

In 2003, Democratic U.S. Congressman Joe Hoeffel, of Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district decided not to run for a fourth term, in order to challenge Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.

Schwartz had originally planned to run for Auditor General, but changed her plans after Hoeffel's announcement.

In early 2004, she moved from Philadelphia to Jenkintown, Pennsylvania in Montgomery County, where she still lives today.

She won the Democratic primary, narrowly defeating former Philadelphia deputy mayor and National Constitution Center 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.

In 2006, Schwartz was re-elected to a second term, defeating Raj Bhakta, a contestant on The Apprentice 2, 66% to 34%.

In 2008, she was re-elected to a third term, defeating Republican attorney Marina Kats, 63% to 35%.

In 2010, 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 the 2014 election, Schwartz was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania.

Schwartz was born Allyson Young in Queens, New York, to Everett and Renee (née Perl) Young.