Representative Judy Schwiebert’s parents instilled in her the importance of education, hard work, integrity and treating people with caring and respect.
Judy is grateful for the great education she received in Arizona’s public schools, from John F. Long Elementary to Maryvale and then Sunnyslope High Schools. She began her higher education at Glendale Community College, and then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Arizona State University.
She was 27 when she started her first teaching job at Greenway High School in the English department. After several years, she decided to go back to school to become a school librarian. She then moved on to be the teacher-librarian at Cactus High School where she worked to inspire a love of reading, taught research and technology skills, and nurtured a sense of community among students and staff for 20 years before retiring in 2006.
As a mom, she raised her two sons here in the Northwest Valley where they got a great education in Washington and Glendale Union District schools and played soccer, Little League and performed in community theater.
As a co-founder of Theater Works and long-time board member, every time the curtain opened on a new production, she had a front-row seat to the magic that comes from working together on something greater than ourselves. That experience has informed her conviction in everything she’s done ever since – from teaching to leading non-profits to serving in the legislature, that we can create results that are greater than the sum of our parts – results that benefit everyone – when we work together.
Education
Every child has the right to a great education regardless of race, zip code, or income level. And we know that teachers and public schools play a crucial role in bringing Arizonans together and preparing every child to have a happy and successful life.
Yet too many teachers can no longer afford to teach in our state. Arizona’s investment in our children’s public schools has been in the national basement for the past fifteen years. As a result, one-third of our children no longer have a permanent, qualified teacher in their classroom.
That’s a disaster for all of us who want to live in a safe, healthy, and thriving community.
Republicans’ decision to drain $1 billion from public schools into academically and financially unaccountable private schools that allow owners to pocket our tax dollars with impunity is only making things worse.
We need to make a significant and lasting investment to make sure every child gets their chance to thrive. To do that, it’s essential that we first lift the 1980-era spending cap on school districts which led to the teacher shortage crisis so that we can increase teacher and staff pay to the national median, reduce class sizes that are among the highest in the nation, and fulfill the state’s long-promised funding to repair or replace outdated school facilities.
Reproductive Freedom
Politicians have no business in our personal business.
In fact, the Arizona Constitution explicitly guarantees our right to privacy, and Judy will protect that right for every Arizonan. That applies to having the right to make our own decisions about our bodies, including the right to abortion. With the Repeal of Roe, Arizona is left with laws that could prevent a doctor from even assisting your wife or daughter experiencing a miscarriage until they were close to death.
Judy’s own son and daughter-in-law struggled for years to have a child, so they were overjoyed when they became pregnant, and then heartbroken when they learned the fetus couldn’t live past birth. Thank goodness they were able to have a safe procedure to end the pregnancy, with no state legislator looking over their shoulders to blame, judge, fine, or even jail them or their doctor for this most personal decision. People should have the fundamental freedom to make their own decisions including in complicated, life-threatening situations.
As your legislator, Judy will protect everyone’s right to privacy and a woman’s right to choose.
Jobs & The Economy
Prices for everything are way too high!
And yet instead of working for ways to ease the burden on everyday working families, the Republican majority in the Arizona legislature has focused time and again on benefits for the richest people in our state.
This past year, they gave away $2 Billion in state revenue to the wealthiest Arizonans, and have created a system of tax breaks that allow the majority of corporations in our state to pay the minimum of $50 in state taxes,
We need to stop shifting the tax burden for maintaining our infrastructure, roads, schools, public safety, schools, and other vital services we all depend upon to the middle class. Everyone should pay their fair share.
We should be prioritizing our local businesses and the everyday people of Arizona so we can build a strong economy that works for all of us.
Healthcare
No one should go bankrupt because they get sick. That’s why Judy supports Prop 209, the Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act that would protect homes, cars and savings and cap interest rates at 3% for people facing often unexpected medical debt.
Additionally, perhaps like you, Judy has friends who find it impossible to afford health insurance, despite doing everything right: sacrificing to get an education, pursuing their dreams, and working hard in respected careers. When they wind up in emergency rooms, it’s financially disastrous for them.
That is why Judy believes Arizonans should have access to quality affordable healthcare, regardless of pre-existing conditions. She will work to allow consumers to buy into AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid agency, increasing the program’s bargaining power to reduce premiums for everyone. She will stand up to insurance companies that are taking advantage of families, and fight to protect essential benefits such as maternity care, cancer treatments, and mental health care.
Recent federal legislation that caps prescription drug costs for seniors, and the cost of insulin at $35 is a great step, but we need those kinds of solutions for everyone.
Judy was elected to the AZ House in 2020 and reelected in 2022, as the top vote-getter in each election. Judy is now running for the AZ Senate in LD 2, a district that has supported her previously. If Democrats are able to hold all of their other seats and Judy is victorious, this would be the tie-making seat on the path to flipping the AZ Senate. As a former public school teacher, Judy has been a vocal champion for fully funding public education in Arizona.
Last day to register for primary: July 1, 2024
Deadline to request absentee ballot (primary) July 19, 2024
Date of primary: July 30, 2024
Last day to register for general: October 7, 2024
Deadline to request absentee ballot (general) October 25, 2024
Date of general: November 5, 2024
2022 State Senate District 2:
Democrat: 48.16%
Republican: 51.84%
2022 Gubernatorial:
Democrat: 50.93%
Republican: 49.07%
2020 Presidential Election:
Biden: 48.04%
Republican: 50.17%
Shawnna Bolick currently holds the Senate Seat in District 2, and previously served two terms in the state House. She was appointed to the Senate by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in July 2023 to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of Republican Sen. Steve Kaiser. In 2021 Shawnna authored legislation that would have allowed state lawmakers to override the presidential choice of Arizona voters with a simple majority — something Republicans have held in the state for decades. Shawnna’s proposal came just two months after receiving emails from Ginni Thomas, urging her to overturn Biden’s victory in Arizona. Shawnna and her husband, Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, are close friends with the Thomas family.
Shawnna also served as the chair of an elections-focused working group formed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization known for drafting model legislation with a conservative bent, that later partnered with prominent GOP attorneys and discussed ways for lawmakers to question the validity of an election, including emailing secretaries of state about their doubts.
Democrats need 2 seats in the State House and Senate to gain a majority and a Democratic trifecta! We must elect Judy to the Senate in this majority making district to defend democracy and protect abortion in this important Presidential & US Senate battleground state.