|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Tri-Valley Congressman Eric Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial campaign on Sunday evening, two days after his political life was leveled by allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
The seventh-term Democrat and Dublin native, who was a leading contender in the governor’s race weeks away from the primary election in California, continues to deny accusations of serious wrongdoing but responded to the growing chorus of one-time allies, former staffers, opponents and others calling on him to drop out.
“I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” Swalwell said in a three-sentence statement on social media at around 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he added. “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”
Swalwell has not yet addressed the future of his congressional service, as he also faces demands to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives – and many Republicans, along with some Democrats, have said they would back a move to expel him from Congress in the week ahead.
His ascending political career with sights set on Sacramento took a sudden nosedive Friday afternoon when the San Francisco Chronicle reported a former district staff member’s accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. CNN soon followed a story that included three other women claiming varying levels of sexual misbehavior by Swalwell in the past.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed to CNN and other national media on Saturday that it had opened an investigation into an allegation against Swalwell. The former staffer told the Chronicle and CNN that in 2024, several years after she left his team, they reconnected at an event and Swalwell then raped her in his New York City hotel room, forcing sex with her when she was too intoxicated to consent.
Swalwell, a married father of three young children, has not been charged with a crime and called allegations of sexual assault “flat false”.
The woman alleged a similar incident of nonconsensual sex while intoxicated occurred within his district in 2019, an alleged assault she told the two news outlets she did not previously report as a young woman working in a powerful legislator’s office at the time.
Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, whose department oversees prosecutions in Swalwell’s home district, said she was “deeply troubled” by the news reports.
“All allegations must be fully investigated by the appropriate authorities, with independence and transparency. Now is a time to hear from anyone impacted. The voices of victims and survivors should always be heard, and I’m listening,” Jones Dickson said Saturday. “I am closely monitoring this situation, and should there be a legal process from a case originating in Alameda County, I will act with full transparency to determine the most appropriate path forward.”
Jones Dickson also rescinded her prior endorsement of Swalwell’s bid for governor and cast aside his endorsement of her election campaign – one of countless local, state and federal officials to quickly distance themselves from the suddenly embattled congressman.
The chorus of criticism included Swalwell’s own senior staff for both his congressional and campaign teams who released a joint statement Saturday, as well as a group of 55 former staff members who co-signed their own scathing statement with “heavy hearts and unwavering resolve” Sunday.
“To our colleague: you are not alone. We see you. We stand with you. We are deeply sorry that we did not know what you were enduring, and we carry the weight of that with us,” the former staffers wrote Sunday. “Your bravery in speaking out has given voice to what many victims have feared to say, and we are grateful for your courage. We are appalled by his actions and stand firmly with you and every victim who has come forward.”
The written statement was signed by a who’s who of past Swalwell workers, including former Dublin mayor, district office director and deputy chief of staff Tim Sbranti; longtime campaign consultant Lisa Tucker, who left Swalwell’s campaign last year; 2022 Pleasanton City Council candidate Dean Wallace, a former legislative and campaign staffer early in Swalwell’s tenure; and Josh Richman, the former Bay Area political insider who left journalism to join the congressman’s office from 2016 to 2022.
They implored that they believed their former colleague, saying her allegations “serious, credible, and demand accountability” and calling on their one-time boss to voluntarily leave Congress and the governor’s race.
He did the latter hours after the ex-staffers’ statement hit the headlines Sunday afternoon – albeit couching his exit as a suspension, not a permanent end.
By then, every prominent Democrat and labor group that previously endorsed Swalwell had withdrawn its support, with many directly calling on the congressman to end his campaign altogether.
Swalwell continues to face demands to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives – and many Republicans, along with some Democrats, have said they would back a move to expel Swalwell from Congress this week.
Axios and others reported over the weekend that legislators on both sides of the aisle have indicated support for also voting to oust U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who faces allegations of sexual misconduct with staffers. There are further calls to expel Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.).
The potential ousters could get caught up in House politics though, with each needing to be voted on individually instead of as a group and there being a two-thirds threshold for each.
This was already supposed to be Swalwell’s last year representing District 14. Nine candidates are on the June 2 primary election ballot seeking to succeed Swalwell in Congress.
Regardless of whether he ends his gubernatorial campaign, Swalwell will remain one of many candidates on the primary ballot for governor as the deadline to remove his name has passed.
