Rep. Eric Swalwell Suspends Governor Campaign

The California governor’s race had its most dramatic shake-up so far this weekend, when Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race due to several allegations of sexual assault.

According to the New York Times, Swalwell dropped out of the race on Sunday after the San Francisco Chronicle released a report on Friday, in which a former staffer alleged the Democratic House member sexually assaulted her while she worked for him. The accuser said that Swalwell assaulted her in a New York hotel room in 2024, when she was too intoxicated to consent. 

After the Chronicle’s report came out, CNN published a separate story in which three other women accused Eric Swalwell of sexual harassment. One of the women had a similar story to the staffer, where she ended up drunk in Swalwell’s hotel room with little memory of what happened. Another woman, social media creator Ally Sammarco, said she received unsolicited explicit messages from Swalwell after initially reaching out to talk politics. 

“I truly never thought he would respond – I had like 1,000 followers at the time,” she said. “And he actually responded.”

“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor,” Swalwell said in a statement to CNN. “For nearly 20 years, I have served the public – as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.”

Swalwell also released a video on Friday denying the allegations, though he did apologize to his wife, leading to speculation of infidelity. “I do not suggest to you in any way that I’m perfect or that I’m a saint,” Swalwell said in the video. “I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past, but those mistakes are between me and my wife and to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position.”

The fallout was swift for Swalwell, with all of his Democratic backers withdrawing their endorsements, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who was one of Swalwell’s staunchest supporters. 

“This woman was brave to come forward, and we should take her story seriously,” Schiff wrote on X. “I am withdrawing my endorsement immediately, and believe that he should withdraw from the race.”

As several of his campaign staffers resigned over the weekend, Swalwell released a statement on Sunday announcing he would be suspending his candidacy, but remained defiant. “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.” Swalwell wrote. 

According to AP, Swalwell’s exit has led to even more uncertainty in California’s gubernatorial race. In recent weeks, it appeared as if the race finally had a front-runner as Swalwell gained momentum. With his exit, the remaining Democratic candidates are all vying for his former endorsements. 

The Hill reports that bipartisan calls have grown for Eric Swalwell to resign from the House as a result of the allegations. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said she intends to file a motion to expel Swalwell from the House and is inquiring if she can pair it with a motion to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who admitted to having an affair with a staffer who eventually committed suicide by setting herself on fire. Expelling a member of the House requires a two-thirds majority vote, though several Democratic and Republican House members have said they would back a motion to expel Swalwell and Gonzales. 

This right here is why I don’t understand people who have favorite politicians. They’re just ordinary people with a modicum of power. That doesn’t make them any less capable of making mistakes or committing heinous acts. It’s just a shame that these scandals will likely take up time that the House could be using to figure out how to address the cost of living or, ya know, putting constraints on President Donald Trump’s misguided war in Iran. 

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