Paula Swift, a first-time congressional candidate in California’s fortieth District, says she’s entering into politics to fill a management void she believes has left too many individuals unheard and underserved.
“There’s a gaping want,” Swift stated. “There’s a gap for a sort of management that’s really centered on what the individuals want versus profession politicians which have gotten so distant from connecting with their constituents.”
Swift factors to daring figures like Jasmine Crockett and Hakeem Jeffries as examples of the type of direct, accountable management she admires.
“They’ve referred to as the present administration’s insurance policies and behaviors on the carpet, and so they’re not simply sitting by and complicitly permitting the carnage to proceed.”
She brings to the race a background in schooling, consulting, and strategic communications, which she says uniquely equips her to know and reply to the wants of the individuals.
“I’ve been capable of marry my very own lived experiences with my instructional background,” she stated. “I can acknowledge the issue, forecast what is likely to be wanted, implement a plan, and talk it to constituents in a approach that’s palatable to them.”
Swift’s marketing campaign focuses closely on fairness, notably in schooling and healthcare.
Swift helps reversing cuts proposed by the present administration and reinvesting in underserved communities.
“There’s a phase of our society who has been underserved,” she stated. “We have to put providers round these communities, particularly specializing in prevention.”
She additionally factors to the distrust many within the Black neighborhood really feel towards the healthcare system.
“There’s this worry or suspicion inside the Black neighborhood of healthcare professionals,” she stated.
“Offering schooling is essential to serving to individuals perceive the significance of preventative drugs. Assets must be funneled to areas the place individuals lack entry to good healthcare, meals safety, and equitable schooling.”
Financial empowerment is one other key pillar of her platform. She advocates for expanded entry to funding and mentorship for small companies, particularly for these with out generational wealth.
“Funding assets must be accessible to small companies to allow them to get on their ft,” she stated. “Plenty of enterprise house owners don’t come from households which have generational wealth. They want the identical entry that others have.”
Relatively than depend on conventional marketing campaign methods, Swift is targeted on displaying up in the neighborhood and constructing belief face-to-face.
“My major focus is to get out and meet with the individuals,” she stated.
“I am going to Democratic Membership conferences. I spend time at occasions in the neighborhood. We’ll be knocking on doorways, telling individuals my story, and sharing my imaginative and prescient.”
She hosts in-home meet and greets throughout the district, providing voters an opportunity to ask questions and get to know her past marketing campaign slogans.
“What’s essential is attending to know the individuals and the issues that concern them most,” she stated.
“As soon as I’m elected, I need to preserve that openness and transparency. I imagine in a servant management place.”
Swift typically emphasizes that she’s not a political insider—and that’s by design.
“I jokingly say on the marketing campaign path that my superpower is that I’m not a profession politician,” she stated.
“My lived experiences enable me to essentially join with the individuals as a result of I’ve skilled plenty of the issues they’ve.”
She paid her personal approach by means of faculty and constructed a profession by means of what she calls “pure arduous work, tenacity, and the assumption that after we work arduous, we must always all have equitable entry to the American dream.”
As she campaigns throughout the fortieth District, Swift says she’s listening first—and making ready to steer with objective, not energy.
