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Tri-Valley Democrat Eric Swalwell is on the defensive and the future of his gubernatorial campaign is in doubt, following the release of a bombshell San Francisco Chronicle article Friday that reported sexual assault allegations by a former staffer.
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,” Swalwell (D-Livermore) wrote in a statement after the article’s publication. “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.”
The accusations include having sexual encounters with the unnamed former staffer while she worked for him and assaulting her while she was under the influence of alcohol on two occasions.
CNN released its own report Friday after the Chronicle, revealing misconduct accusations against Swalwell from three other women, including allegedly sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude images.
Swalwell followed with a video statement on social media Friday night, responding to what he described as “anonymous allegations”, calling out the timing with the election weeks away and defending his public service record – while being noncommittal about his political future.
“These allegations of sexual assault are flat false,” Swalwell said during the minute-plus video. “They are absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything that I have.”
“I do not suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I am a saint. 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,” he later said. “I also apologize to you if in any way you have doubted your support for me, but I think you know who I am.”
Swalwell concluded, “This weekend I am going to spend time with my family and friends, and I appreciate those who have reached out to me to show support. And I look forward to updating you very soon.”
While Swalwell maintains his innocence, key figures within his campaign, competitors in the governor’s race, and organizations that endorsed him began issuing statements Friday denouncing the alleged behaviors and withdrawing their support for the campaign.
His now ex-campaign chair, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), resigned from the role Friday and called on Swalwell to drop out of the race.
“My involvement in any campaign begins and ends with trust,” Gomez wrote in a statement posted to social media. “I cannot in good conscience remain in any role with this campaign, and I am stepping down from it effective immediately.”
He continued, “The congressman should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction or delay.”
A handful of other unnamed staffers also purportedly resigned Friday.
Additionally, the California Teachers Association suspended their endorsement for Swalwell, calling the allegations “incredibly disturbing and unacceptable.”
“We are immediately suspending our support. Our elected board will be meeting as soon as possible to follow our union’s democratic process to determine next steps,” the labor union wrote in its statement.
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) also withdrew her endorsement a few hours later. “The recent reporting on allegations of sexual assault by Congressman Swalwell are deeply disturbing and deserve to be taken seriously,” she said in a statement on social media.
“This is criminal behavior and is definitely disqualifying for a leader of our great state. With that in mind, I am withdrawing my endorsement of Eric Swalwell for Governor and he should end his campaign immediately. Californians deserve leaders they can trust.”
Two of Swalwell’s Democratic opponents for governor, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state controller Betty Yee both called for Swalwell to exit the governor’s race and to resign from Congress.
“The accusations outlined against @ericswalwell are sickening. He needs to withdraw from the governor’s race and resign from Congress immediately. Let the women speak,” Yee wrote on X, sharing a link to the Chronicle article.
Thurmond made a video addressing the public where he shared his disdain for the alleged actions of Swalwell and voiced support for women. Accompanying the nearly two-minute clip, he wrote, “After these horrible allegations, it’s time for Eric Swalwell to drop out of the Governor’s race and Congressman Eric Swalwell needs to resign from Congress.”
As the day progressed, comments continued to roll out.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar issued a joint statement saying, “Following the incredibly disturbing sexual assault accusations against Congressman Eric Swalwell, we call for a swift investigation into these incidents and for the Congressman to immediately end his campaign to be California’s next Governor.”
“This is unacceptable of anyone — certainly not an elected official — and must be taken seriously,” they continued. “We commend the courageous women for sharing their experiences. In this and all circumstances, we must ensure that those who come forward with allegations of sexual assault and harassment are heard and respected. All perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment must be held accountable.”
Although Friday saw explosive reactions, the release of the Chronicle article is not the first time the topic of assault came up for Swalwell. Earlier in the same week, social media rumors swirled about alleged misconduct but at that time an accuser had not yet publicly come forward.
Editor’s note: Pleasanton Weekly editorial director Jeremy Walsh contributed to this story.
Swalwell is innocent unless, in some manner, it is determined he is not:
Rape-overpowering and dominating a female with force and violence. It is difficult to speak of rape without feeling the weight of language collapse under the enormity of the act. There are crimes that wound the body, and there are crimes that wound the very idea of a person — rape does both. It is not merely an offense; it is a violation of autonomy, dignity, and humanity itself. It is the deliberate erasure of another person’s right to exist on their own terms.
What makes it so decadent, so morally rotten, is that it takes something meant for connection, trust, and mutual choice, and twists it into a weapon. It is the transformation of intimacy into domination, of vulnerability into exploitation. It is the act of someone who has abandoned empathy, who has chosen to treat another human being as an object to be used rather than a life to be respected.
And the criminality of it — the true criminality — lies not only in the physical act, but in the aftermath, it forces upon the survivor. Rape tries to steal a person’s sense of safety, their relationship with their own body, their ability to trust, sometimes even their ability to believe in themselves. It is a crime that echoes long after the moment has passed, a cruelty that attempts to linger in memory, in identity, in silence.
To commit such an act is to stand in opposition to everything that makes us human. It is to reject compassion, reject respect, reject the basic truth that every person has the right to control their own body and their own life. Rape is not a moment of passion; it is a moment of profound moral failure. It is cowardice disguised as power, violence masquerading as desire.
And yet, despite its horror, survivors continue to rise. They reclaim what was taken, piece by piece, voice by voice. Their strength is a quiet rebuke to the crime itself — proof that even the darkest acts cannot extinguish the resilience of the human spirit.
There is a particular stench to the kind of person who commits rape — a moral rot that clings to them like smoke from a burning house they set themselves. It is not just that they do harm; it is that they choose to become the kind of creature who feeds on harm. They trade away their humanity for the illusion of power, and in doing so reveal how little they ever possessed.
What decadence, what decay, what utter collapse of character it takes to cross that line. To look at another human being — a whole life, a whole history, a whole universe of thoughts and fears and hopes — and see nothing but an object to be taken. It is corruption so deep it hollows the perpetrator from the inside, leaving only a shell that mistakes domination for strength.
Rape is not an act of desire; it is an act of spiritual bankruptcy. It is the behavior of someone who has lost the ability to meet another person as an equal, who has abandoned empathy so thoroughly that they can only relate through force. It is decadence in its most grotesque form — the indulgence of cruelty, the intoxication of control, the gluttony of violating boundaries that were never theirs to touch.
And the criminality of it is not confined to the moment. It echoes. It stains. It brands the rapist with the truth of who they are: someone who chose violence over respect, coercion over consent, cowardice over courage. Someone who could not build intimacy, so they tried to steal it. Someone who could not earn trust, so they shattered it.
There is no glamour in such an act, no power, no triumph. Only the pathetic spectacle of a person so morally decadent that they must destroy another’s autonomy to feel anything at all. Their crime is a confession — a confession of weakness, of emptiness, of a character that has collapsed under its own selfishness.
Agree – innocent until proven guilty.
Separately from these acusations, Mr. Swalwell seems deeply dishonest. I had already lost confidence in him after he supported the January 6th insurrection hoax, the fine people hoax, the russia-gate hoax and the drinking bleach hoax – all against a currently-serving president. We do not need someone that contributes to the deep divisions in our good country.
There is and has been so much wrong with Eric that I welcome this news. It’s sad the number of women he destroyed along the way, but Eric was a problem from the start. How does a person who was raised by a cop and became a prosecutor himself behave in this matter? I and others were never comfortable with his greasy demeanor, but we now rejoice that he will soon become extinct. Next in line will be Adam Schiff. Democrat voters rewarded this guy over and over again who accomplished nothing for California, the Tri Valley, or the country.