Katrina Swett

Swett is a first-generation American. Her father, the congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), a survivor of the Holocaust, and her mother, Annette Tillemann Lantos, came to the United States from Hungary after World War II. Katrina Swett has a sister, Annette.

She skipped high school, entered college at 14, and transferred to Yale where her older sister Annette was a student. She earned a degree in political science there in 1974 at 18, and her Juris Doctor in 1976 from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.[6] At 21, she joined the staff of then U.S. Senator Joe Biden's Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] In 2006, she earned her Ph.D. in history with a focus on Human Rights and United States Foreign Policy from the University of Southern Denmark.[8]

She is the wife of Ambassador and former Congressman Richard Swett, vice president of Swett Associates, Inc., a consulting firm.[9] Swett met Richard Swett at Yale, where she became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, largely through her interactions with Jeffrey R. Holland.[10] Katrina and Richard married in 1980.[11] The couple have seven children and live in Bow, New Hampshire.[8]

In 2009, Swett was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary for her efforts in setting up the Tom Lantos Institute in Budapest, continuing her late father's work for the benefit of ethnic minorities there. In 2016, in the company of at least 100 other recipients of Hungarian state awards, Swett returned the Knight's Cross in protest of the Hungarian government's commendation of Zsolt Bayer, a writer, publisher, public speaker, and member of the Fidesz party for his rhetoric, what she considers antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and antiziganist.[12]

In 2016, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and J. Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University presented Swett the International Religious Liberty Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the promotion and preservation of religious freedom.[13]

Swett ran two of her father's campaigns for Congress. She was a Congressional staffer, first as a legislative assistant and then as Deputy Counsel to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.[9]

She co-hosted a political talk show, Beyond Politics on WMUR-TV Channel 9 with former Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Tamposi.[9] She ran in 2002 against Republican incumbent U.S. Representative Charles Bass and received less than 41% of vote, losing by 16%.[14][15][16]

Swett was national co-chair of Joe Lieberman's 2004 presidential race.[17] She accused General Wesley Clark of apostasy on the AUMF in the Iraq War of 2003, and for having linked Al-Qaeda with Iraq.[18] In 2006, she supported Lieberman's successful 2006 re-election campaign as an Independent against Democrat Ned Lamont[17] and Republican nominee Alan Schlesinger.[19]

2008 U.S. Senate campaign

Katrina and Dick Swett, at 2008 Milford Labor Day parade

See also: United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2008

On January 18, 2007, Katrina Swett announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate in the 2008 elections in New Hampshire, in hopes of being the Democratic nominee to unseat incumbent Republican John E. Sununu. She began fundraising for the 2008 Senate campaign. After former Governor and 2002 nominee Jeanne Shaheen announced her candidacy, Swett withdrew and endorsed Shaheen,[21] who later won the election.

• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Leadership Promoting Human Rights Worldwide - Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice