[2][3] 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.

[4] 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.

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

[11] 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 ranked second with 27% of the vote, dominating the southeastern part of the state, most notably Philadelphia (60%) and Montgomery (62%) counties.

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

She won the Democratic primary, narrowly defeating former Philadelphia deputy mayor and National Constitution Center director Joe Torsella 52%–48%.

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.

[citation needed] The first piece of legislation Schwartz introduced after being elected to Congress focused on providing tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed veterans.

In 2011, Schwartz introduced the Hiring Our Veterans Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in November of that year.

Schwartz was the first Democratic member of the House of Representatives to call for Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign following his photo scandal.

[26] 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.

Schwartz announced her intention to give up her House seat to challenge incumbent Republican Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who was up for re-election in 2014.

[30] 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.