Paula Jean Swearengin

In May 2017, Swearengin announced her candidacy against Joe Manchin in the U.S. Senate election in West Virginia. She was one of the first candidates supported by Brand New Congress.[14][15] Swearengin refused all PAC donations in the election and received no contributions over $200.[16]

Swearengin's campaign was highlighted in the 2019 documentary Knock Down the House alongside the primary campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, and Cori Bush, three other Democrats who ran for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections, with Ocasio-Cortez winning her election. The film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[5] and was released on Netflix on May 1, 2019.[17]

Swearengin supports a Medicare for All healthcare plan. She favors legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis.[13] She also supports raising the minimum wage to $15 and free public college tuition.[18] She has spoken out against the influence of pharmaceutical companies in addressing the opioid epidemic and argues that long-term treatment centers and a harm reduction model both have roles to play in addressing the epidemic.[19]

In June 2019, Swearengin announced her campaign for Senate against Republican incumbent Shelley Moore Capito. She had two opponents in the June 9 Democratic primary, Richie Robb and Richard Ojeda. Swearengin won with 38% of the vote to Ojeda's 33% and Robb's 29%.[20] In the November 3 general election she faced Capito, who has been a Senator since 2015,[21] and unaffiliated candidate Franklin Riley, losing to the former.[22]

Swearengin joined her three other Knock Down the House co-stars in endorsing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.[23] Sanders endorsed Swearengin's campaign for Senate on July 8, 2020.[24] In the November general election, Capito defeated Swearengin.[25]