Paula Jean Swearengin
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Paula Jean Swearengin (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent West Virginia. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Swearengin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Swearengin was a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from West Virginia. Swearengin lost the primary on May 8, 2018.
On July 15, 2021, Swearengin announced she was leaving the Democratic Party.[1] She joined the People's Party on July 20, 2021.[2]
Biography
Swearengin was born on June 13, 1974, in Mullens, West Virginia. Her professional experience includes working as an office coordinator with medical billing and coding. She has also spent decades as a community organizer, activist, and citizen lobbyist fighting for clean air and water in West Virginia. Swearengin has been affiliated with Brand New Congress and West Virginia Can't Wait.[3]
Elections
2020
See also: United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2020
United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2020 (June 9 Republican primary)
United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. Senate West Virginia
Incumbent Shelley Moore Capito defeated Paula Jean Swearengin and David Moran in the general election for U.S. Senate West Virginia on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Shelley Moore Capito (R) | 70.3 | 547,454 |
 | Paula Jean Swearengin (D)  | 27.0 | 210,309 | |
 | David Moran (L) | 2.7 | 21,155 | |
| Total votes: 778,918 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Franklin Riley (Unaffiliated)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia
Paula Jean Swearengin defeated Richard Ojeda and Richie Robb in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Paula Jean Swearengin | 38.3 | 71,725 |
 | Richard Ojeda | 32.9 | 61,712 | |
 | Richie Robb | 28.8 | 53,944 | |
| Total votes: 187,381 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia
Incumbent Shelley Moore Capito defeated Allen Whitt and Larry Butcher in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shelley Moore Capito | 83.3 | 173,331 |
 | Allen Whitt | 9.6 | 19,972 | |
 | Larry Butcher | 7.1 | 14,673 | |
| Total votes: 207,976 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Swearengin's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here. Swearengin was endorsed by The Dominion Post.[4]
2018
General election
General election for U.S. Senate West Virginia
Incumbent Joe Manchin III defeated Patrick Morrisey and Rusty Hollen in the general election for U.S. Senate West Virginia on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joe Manchin III (D) | 49.6 | 290,510 |
 | Patrick Morrisey (R) | 46.3 | 271,113 | |
 | Rusty Hollen (L) | 4.2 | 24,411 | |
| Total votes: 586,034 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia
Incumbent Joe Manchin III defeated Paula Jean Swearengin in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joe Manchin III | 69.9 | 112,658 |
| Paula Jean Swearengin | 30.1 | 48,594 | |
| Total votes: 161,252 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Chase Henderson (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patrick Morrisey | 34.9 | 48,007 |
 | Evan Jenkins | 29.2 | 40,185 | |
 | Don Blankenship | 20.0 | 27,478 | |
 | Tom Willis | 9.8 | 13,540 | |
| Bo Copley | 3.1 | 4,248 | |
| Jack Newbrough | 3.0 | 4,115 | |
| Total votes: 137,573 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Scott Ernst (R)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Paula Jean Swearengin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Swearengin's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a poor coal miner's daughter and granddaughter. I know what it is like to live in the boom and bust economy of West Virginia. When I was a kid, my stepdad was laid off at the mines and we were forced to North Carolina for him to find work. I did not realize until we got there and had access to clean water that my hair was not red. The acid mine drainage we were forced to drink and bathe in had turned by brunette hair red. When I came back to West Virginia, I realized that people were still living in the same conditions and that nothing had gotten better. There are people in this state that live in conditions comparable to a third world country and that is unacceptable. No one should have to live that way in one of the richest countries in the world. That's why I am running. For too long, our politicians have ignored us and sold us out to the highest bidder. We deserve true representation so we can have a seat at the table and a piece of the pie.
- West Virginia needs a diversified economy that is sustainable and works for all of us, not just the wealthy and party elites.
- We need long-term solutions to the addiction epidemic and support those in active recovery.
- Healthcare is a human right. Medicare for all not only makes moral sense, it makes economic sense. Happier and healthier people are more productive people.
I am very passionate about building a diversified and modern economy for West Virginia. The industrial revolution was built on the backs of Appalachians and it is time for us to get a piece of the pie we helped to bake. We deserve a seat at the table. I am dedicated to being an ethical public servant who is only beholden to the people of this state. Appalachians deserve a voice.
Larry Gibson, "The Keeper of the Mountains" is who I look up to most. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us but his advocacy and work in this state inspires me still. I am honored to have known him and worked with him.
"Love Them or Leave Them Just Don't Destroy Them" - Larry Gibson
I believe the number one responsibility of an elected official is to be a public servant to the people. As elected officials, we work for the people and should only be beholden to them, not do the bidding of corporations and lobbyists. I also believe that when Congress is not in session, elected members should be in the communities they represent doing work to improve the lives of their constituents. If elected, I intend to be that kind of public servant.
It may not be a well known event to the rest of the country, but the strike at Rawl Sales and Processing in Matewan, WV is the first thing I can really remember happening. I had to look up when it was because all I remember is being young and seeing it unfold. I was about 9-10 when it happened. It was a very violent event where Massey Energy clashed with strikers and brought in scab workers to replace them. It was the first time I ever saw Don Blankenship too. Maybe that's why I remember it. If you're from WV, you know that name and most people remember the first time they saw him.
I worked at the local Burger King for about a year and then went to work at McDonald's.
Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre. This book tells the story of how millionaire politicians like WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey allowed pharmaceutical companies to pour millions of opioid pills into small WV towns and created the addiction epidemic that we are still fighting. The book is infuriating but riveting. Every West Virginian and anyone impacted by opioid addiction should read it.
I struggled being a single mom living in poverty. I know that many people have lived and are living a life similar to mine and I understand what that's like. It is difficult raising children, but doing so alone and without a living wage makes it that much harder. I know what it is like to scrounge up change to put gas in my car in order to go to work. I have worried about how my family would survive. I am not an out-of-touch millionaire. I am just like many of you.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Paula Jean Swearengin participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 10, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Paula Jean Swearengin's responses follow below.[5]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1) Medicare For All. Every attempt made toward affordable health care, including the ACA, has been corrupted by the interests of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Many of the problems with the legislation can and should be fixed with little regard for the profit protection amendments introduced by members of both parties. We can't let the tantrums of corporate lobbyists and their sponsored members of Congress poke holes in our progress through legislative deal-making. We must start looking toward the future. The support for Medicare For All in Washington and among voters has grown to an all time high, but there's still much work to be done. Recent cost-analyses show an average annual cost savings for households and the elimination of unpredictable market-driven prices for coverage. A modernized single-payer system heads-off pharmaceutical price-fixing and takes away the insurance companies' incentives for denying your treatment to improve their bottom line. Also, universal preventative health care reduces overall costs! It's the right thing to do! 2) A Living Wage and Workers' Rights. Minimum wage has not kept up with the cost of living. It has been nearly ten years since the last modest increase the federal government was willing to pass. Over that same time, the wealth gap grew larger than ever. This is about justice and basic human decency. If you work hard and you work full time you shouldn't live in poverty. And all workers should have their rights protected! I support strong unions and collective bargaining. I am forever proud to have stood on the lines and at rallies at the Capitol with the West Virginia teachers and public employees who helped reignite the Labor movement across the country. |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | We need federal investment in the renewable energy sector. In 2017, renewable energy jobs grew 12 times faster than the rest the our economy. These products must be built in place and maintained by workers who live right here. These jobs can't be outsourced or moved out of state. West Virginia is the perfect place to start. With the coal industry in decline due to mechanization, mountaintop removal requiring many fewer miners, and the competition of cheaper extraction in the natural gas industry, there is a workforce here ready and able to take on the challenge. We must guarantee universal Pre-K and tuition-free public higher education. In America, every child deserves a chance to succeed. Equal and unlimited access to a quality education should be a right, not a privilege. Educating the citizenry of a nation pays dividends in the long run, with the economy getting back much more than is initially put in. Crushing student debt for higher education should no longer burden young people trying to improve their lives through hard work. We have the tools to build the best education system in the world! We just need the will to do it. When a community suffers a natural disaster, the urgency brings people from all walks of life together to organize a response in the hope of saving lives. We now suffer a man-made disaster that affects hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life. Addiction and the horrific deaths related to it are consuming our citizens and destroying families at an alarming rate. This is a public health crisis that cannot be met solely with severe punishments for street dealers. Congress must listen to the professionals who advocate for long term care, comprehensive cannabis policy, more strict regulation of pill mills, proper oversight of pharmaceuticals, and more resources to disrupt the fentanyl black market. We need to address the causes of addiction and the entrenched systems that feed it for profit. Congress can immediately act on removing federal roadblocks to legal medical and recreational cannabis. This would allow states to continue to reap the rewards of the economic boom and permit states like West Virginia to create jobs and join in the prosperity. A growing number of veterans and patients suffering from cancer and other chronic ailments are demanding access to cannabis as a pain treatment. Every effort should be made at both the state and federal level to accomplish this goal. West Virginia rivers and streams are constantly threatened by drainage, dumping, spills, and run-off from all of the industries who get tax and regulation breaks in the name of jobs. Explosions, leaks, and five-day chemical fires have filled our air with toxins. Even worse, most of the companies guilty of these abuses are often headquartered out-of-state and are reporting record profits! CEOs are raking in millions in salaries and bonuses at the expense of our health. Clean air and water should always be part of the cost of doing business.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[7]
|
” |
Noteworthy events
Netflix documentary about 2018 campaign
Netflix aired a documentary on May 1, 2019, called "Knock Down the House," which follows the campaigns of four women who ran for Congress in 2018. The women profiled are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and former House candidates Amy Vilela (Nevada) and Cori Bush (Missouri), as well as former Senate candidate Paula Jean Swearengin (West Virginia). The documentary also shows how the political action committees Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress operate when they recruit and help candidates run for office.[8][9]
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Twitter, "Paula Jean Swearengin," July 15, 2021
- ↑ Twitter, "Paula Jean Swearengin," July 20, 2021
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 17, 2020
- ↑ The Dominion Post, "Swearengin for Senate," September 14, 2020
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Paula Jean Swearengin's responses," April 10, 2018
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CNN, "Netflix documentary on campaigns of four Democratic women, including Ocasio-Cortez, set to be released in May," April 24, 2019
- ↑ BuzzFeed News, "This New Documentary Shows Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Before She Was AOC," May 3, 2019
