Swalwell suspends California governor bid amid sexual assault allegations

U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, a front-runner in the race to become California's next governor, suspended his campaign on Sunday amid mounting sexual assault allegations. The decision came just two days after The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported that a former staffer from his district office accused him of two non-consensual sexual encounters. CNN's reporting also revealed that three other women have made separate sexual misconduct allegations against the congressman. In a post on X, Swalwell stated he was "deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past" but called the allegations "absolutely false" and vowed to fight them, saying the legal battle was "my fight, not a campaign's."

Pressure on Swalwell intensified rapidly following the campaign suspension. In separate television interviews on Sunday, prominent Democratic lawmakers—Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna, and Senator Eugene Vindman—each stated that Swalwell should resign from Congress. This was followed by the release of a powerful open letter, signed by more than 50 of Swalwell's former staffers, which called on him to immediately drop out of the gubernatorial race *and* resign his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The former aides described the allegations as "serious and credible" and argued that "remaining in either role while these allegations hang unresolved is an insult to every person who has ever worked for him." Swalwell, who has represented his California district since 2013, now faces a dual crisis threatening both his political future and his current position in Congress.