Carol Schwartz

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Carol Schwartz, November 2007

Carol Schwartz (born January 20, 1944, in Greenville, Mississippi^[1]) is a politician from Washington, D.C., who is an at-large councilmember on the Council of the District of Columbia.

1 Early life
2 Political career
3 Ideology
4 Election history
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life

After being born in Greenville, Mississippi,^[1] her family lived for brief periods in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,^[2] before settling down in Midland, Texas, where she spent nearly all of her childhood.^[1] Growing up in Midland, Schwartz experienced anti-Semitism as a child, where she one of very few Jewish people in the city.^[2] Schwartz graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1965 with a degree in elementary and special education.^[1] After graduation, she worked as a special education teacher in Austin, but she quit and moved to the District in 1966 after visiting the city.^[2]^[3]

[edit] Political career

Schwartz is a moderate^[2]^[4] Republican, who entered D.C. politics in 1974 as a member of the Board of Education representing Ward 3. Reelected four years later, she decided to run for president of the Board of Education in 1980, a race she lost.

In 1984 she ran for the D.C. city council as an at-large member.^[3] She ran against Jerry A. Moore, Jr., who had held the seat for ten years and who was also a Republican.^[3] After Schwartz defeated Moore in the Republican primary, Moore decided to run a write-in campaign in the general election, but Schwartz won the general election as well.^[3]

In 1986, Schwartz ran for mayor against incumbent Marion Barry, campaigning that "there is no Republican or Democratic way to pick up the trash."^[3] Schwartz received 33 percent of the vote, and Barry won reelection.^[3] After the 1988 suicide of her husband, David H. Schwartz, she decided not to run for reelection to the Council that year.^[3]

Schwartz reentered politics in 1994, running again for mayor.^[3] Marion Barry also reentered politics that year, successfully defeating incumbent mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly in the Democratic primary election. In the general election, Schwartz received 42 percent of the vote, and Barry won the election.^[5]

In 1996, Schwartz ran for an at-large seat in the Council.^[4] The only Republican on the ballot, she won the race and rejoined the Council.^[6]^[7]^[4]

In 1998, Schwartz ran for mayor for the third time, campaigning for "safe streets, good schools, a clean environment."^[8] Schwartz received 30% of the vote in the general election, and Anthony Williams was elected mayor.^[9] She successfully ran for reelection to the Council in 2000.^[10]

In 2002, Schwartz decided not to run officially in the Republican primary for mayor, but said she would consider running in general election if she won the write-in vote in the primary election.^[11]^[12] Schwartz campaigned against the incumbent, Anthony Williams, saying that his "stewardship has been marred by ethical lapses, questionable judgment and a cold lack of compassion for our poorest and most helpless citizens."^[12] With no individual's name on the ballot for mayor in the Republican primary, Republican voters could only write-in a candidate's name for mayor. Incumbent Anthony Williams was running a write-in campaign in the Democratic primary after many of his petitions to run on the Democratic ballot were found to be invalid.^[13] Williams ended up winning not only the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate, but he also won the Republican primary as a write-in candidate, receiving 1,707 votes compared to Schwartz's 999.^[13]^[14] The District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics declared Williams the winner of the Democratic primary, but it also declared that there was no winner in the Republican primary.^[13] The Board allowed the Republican committee to choose a Republican nominee for mayor in the general election, and the committee chose Carol Schwartz.^[15] Schwartz accepted the Republican nomination, officially entering the election for mayor for the fourth time.^[15] Schwartz received 34% of the vote in the general election while Williams received 61%, and Williams won reelection.^[16]

In 2004, Schwartz successfully ran for reelection to the Council.^[17]

In 2005, to mock supporters of the proposed smoking ban in D.C. bars, she introduced legislation to "ban the sale of alcohol in all bars, restaurants and nightclubs", arguing that alcohol, like cigarettes, is unhealthy.^[18]^[19] Schwartz, a 40-year smoker who kicked the habit in 2001, explained her position by telling The Washington Post: "I like freedom of choice about abortion and nude dancing — consenting adults should have choices."^[20] Instead of prohibiting smoking in all restaurants and bars, Schwartz favored giving tax credits to those establishments that voluntarily prohibit smoking on their premises.^[21]

In 2007 and 2008, Schwartz shepherded the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act through the District of Columbia Council. The law, which was adopted in March 2008, requires District employers to give their workers paid time off to address their health needs or those of a family member. ^[22] The bill faced significant opposition from the District of Columbia’s business community, as well as from several of Schwartz’s colleagues on the DC Council. ^[23]

It is a landmark law because it made the District of Columbia just the second jurisdiction in the U.S. to create a mandated sick leave requirement, following San Francisco. The DC law represents the first time a paid sick days requirement was adopted by a city or state-level legislative body in the U.S.; the San Francisco law was adopted as a ballot initiative. ^[24]

The DC law also represents the first law to require employers to offer time paid time off to victims of stalking, sexual assault, or domestic violence who need time off to seek medical care, shelter, counseling, a court order, or other services related to the domestic violence. The San Francisco law does not require paid leave for this purpose. ^[25]

As of June 2008, Schwartz has not officially announced whether she is running for reelection to the Council.^[26] Patrick Mara has announced his intention to run in the 2008 Republican primary for the Council seat currently held by Schwartz.^[26]^[27] Republican candidates for Council have until July 2, 2008, to file applications with the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics.^[28]

[edit] Ideology

On some issues, especially economic ones, Schwartz usually has libertarian leanings. She opposes redirecting public money toward private and religious school through school vouchers and supports allowing smoking and nude dancing in bars. A fiscal conservative, she supports reducing taxes and smaller government budgets.^[3]

On most social issues, Schwartz is also libertarian. Schwartz supports abortion rights,^[3] and is popular among the gay community in Washington^[29] and has been supportive of gay rights causes.^[4] Schwartz favors domestic partnerships^[30] but opposes instituting same-sex marriage in Washington, although she says her opposition stems not from her opposition to same-sex marriage, but her belief that it would engender a backlash from Congress.^[29] Schwartz believes that Congress would quickly repeal the law and seek to overturn pro-gay initiatives in the District, such as the domestic partnership registry and gay adoption law.^[29] Schwartz has voted for legislation prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against people with AIDS.^[3] Schwartz also opposed the extension of the District's youth curfew in 2007.^[31] Schwartz voted in favor of the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, which requires District employers to give their employees paid sick leave.^[32] Schwartz is in favor of instituting capital punishment.^[8]

While Schwartz supports giving the District full representation in Congress^[33] and full control over its own affairs,^[34] she does not favor statehood for the District, saying, "Statehood would be cutting off our nose to spite our face. We shouldn't give up our unique status as the national capital."^[34]

[edit] Election history

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1986 Mayor of the District of Columbia, General Election ^[35]

Marion Barry Jr. (D) 61%

Carol Schwartz (R) 33%

other 6%

1994 Mayor of the District of Columbia, Republican Primary Election^[36]

Carol Schwartz (R) 75%

Brian Patrick Moore (R) 13%

Write-in 12%

1994 Mayor of the District of Columbia, General Election^[5]

Marion Barry Jr. (D) 56%

Carol Schwartz (R) 42%

Curtis Pree (I) 0%