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At first, I was surprised when seven-term congressman, Eric Swalwell, declared he would not stand for re-election and instead would run for governor.
Given his ambition, remember he ran for president for 2020 and participated in early debates. Like Kamala Harris, he dropped out before the first primary when he failed to get any traction. He was the wrong gender and color to be considered for Joe Biden’s vice president.
In contrast, his gubernatorial race is gaining traction in the crowded Democrat field that is without a dominant front runner. In contrast to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who patiently waited his turn while Gov. Jerry Brown served out his second two-term stint (his first took place before voters established term limits). When he got into the 2018 race, Newsom was the clear favorite.
This time around, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who defined being low-profile in a position known for that, declined to get into the eight-way Democrat race. It includes seven candidates who have won elective officer plus billionaire Tom Steyer who is spending plenty of his fortune trying to build name recognition. Fortunately, I record virtually every TV show I watch so the fast-forward triple-time button works well for Steyer’s drivel.
When he ran for Congress against Pete Stark, a 20-term incumbent, Swalwell’s public service was as thin as his ambition was thick. He’d served two years as a Dublin planning commissioner and two years as a councilman when he jumped the line ahead of the presumed successor, termed-out legislator Ellen Corbett. His chief attribute was his name wasn’t Pete Stark. He got through the primary and then benefited from the “anyone but Stark” to win. In a heavily Democrat district, he has not been challenged since.
His resume of “accomplishments” in Congress is also thin—chiefly he was one of the prosecutors in the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump and a ready talking head for anti-Trump statements on any network available. Haven’t seen much beneficial legislation even though there have been times when the Democrats controlled both houses and the White House. And, as with now-Senator Adam Schiff, the media has essentially let both off the hook for all of the falsehoods they spouted about the non-existent Trump collusion with Russia.
Swalwell, among the Democrats, is polling well and has lined up some powerful union support, notably the California Teachers Association, Service Employees International Union, the California Federation of Labor Unions (AFL-CIO) and the professional firefighters among others.
Democrats other than Swalwell and Steyer in the race include: Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and former California Attorney General; Matt Mahan, mayor of San Jose; Katie Porter, former U.S. representative representing Orange County and unsuccessful senatorial candidate; Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction; Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles and former Assembly Speaker; and Betty Yee, former state Controller.
Two Republicans, Chad Bianco, Riverside County Sheriff and Steve Hilton, Fox News contributor and former adviser to conservative British prime minister David Cameron also are on the ballot and are polling near the top.
Some Democrats are worried, that despite California being an overwhelmingly blue state, that the Republicans could run one-two as the Democrats split the other votes. California’s “jungle primary” advances the top two vote-getters to the November general election regardless of party.
Steyer and others have raised questions about whether Swalwell lives in the district. His address was listed as a Sacramento attorney’s office (apparently a common maneuver to avoid the public eye). Media reports have placed his residence in a Livermore home owned by relatives of his mentor, former Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti, who also was a staffer. Swalwell and his wife own a home in the Washington D.C. area.
Media reports also indicated that FBI Director Kash Patel had staffers looking into the investigation of Swalwell’s connection with an alleged Chinese spy Fang Fang. A Congressional ethics committee cleared Swalwell of any wrong doing in that case and noted he cooperated. He was single at the time.
Some campaign headlines from two weeks ago concerned the University of Southern California that didn’t want eight Democrats on stage during a debate. One of their profs had developed a different measure of viability that included polling and fundraising. The challenge for the identity-focused Democrats is none of the candidates of color would have been on stage. Mahan would have made it because of campaign funds donated by wealthy Silicon Valley people. USC rolled over and cancelled the event.
You wonder how that focus on race and gender will affect the white governor who wants to be president and thinks he can sell the rest of the country that the train wreck he made the once Golden State is what they want.
“His resume of “accomplishments” in Congress is also thin”
What about Trump? Look at the disaster he has created.