ABOUT GREG SCHWARTZ
My name is Greg Schwartz, and I am honored to serve as your State Representative.​
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I grew up in New York, where my parents instilled in me the values of public service and compassion. My father was an early leader in the New York Reform Democratic movement that wrested control from the old-line city boss machine in the 1950s. I am told I was present (in a baby carriage) when they campaigned (successfully) against an ill-conceived Robert Moses-inspired plan to replace Riverside Park with an 8-lane superhighway along the West Side of Manhattan.
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After graduating from Harvard College with a major in Government, I spent a one-year fellowship working for a member of parliament in London, which gave me the opportunity to see the comparative advantages of the US political system.
I moved to Washington DC, and after a year with a public interest group advocating tobacco control policies, I took a job working for Congressman Jim Scheuer (D-NY) as a legislative aide, responding to constituent concerns and analyzing legislation. These experiences showed me that I wanted to be in a career where I could be helping people directly (medicine) while also having a say in the laws and policies affecting public health (law). I decided to pursue both, attending Yale University where I earned both my MD and my JD in 1998.​ I met my wife in law school and, after living in Brookline and Jamaica Plain, we moved to Newton Highlands to raise our children here. I have served as a primary care physician for nearly 25 years at Mass General and the Brigham and Women's hospital. As an attending physician, I have provided primary care to my patients in the clinic and in the hospital, taught residents and medical students, and served on committees in the hospital advocating for my patients.
In 2009, I ran for the Newton Board of Alderman (now the City Council), because I was alarmed at the state of our roads, sidewalks, and our school buildings. I was humbled by the experience of representing the voters of Newton for eight years, including in a leadership position as the chair of the Land Use Committee. As a city councilor, I strongly supported clean energy initiatives, the preservation of open space at Webster Woods, the approval of senior housing projects, and the ordinance raising the tobacco age to 19.​
Advocacy is a central part of my role as a physician. I advocated for healthcare reform as a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society's House of Delegates and Public Health Committee, and I helped lead an effort to amend the state constitution to establish a right to health insurance. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, I engaged in the American College of Physicians' advocacy days in both Massachusetts and Washington DC.​
I am the proud dad of two daughters who have gone through Newton Public Schools their entire lives.