Eric Swalwell
American politician (born 1980)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eric Michael Swalwell (/ˈswɑːlwɛl/ SWAHL-well; born November 16, 1980) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 2013 until his resignation in 2026. A member of the Democratic Party, Swalwell served on the Dublin City Council from 2010 to 2013.
14th district (2023–2026)
Eric Swalwell | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2016 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – April 14, 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Pete Stark (redistricted) |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Constituency | 15th district (2013–2023) 14th district (2023–2026) |
| Member of the Dublin City Council | |
| In office December 7, 2010 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Kate Ann Scholz |
| Succeeded by | Abe Gupta |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eric Michael Swalwell November 16, 1980 Sac City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouses | Melissa Maranda
(m. 2007; div. 2010)Brittany Watts (m. 2016) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Campbell University (attended) University of Maryland, College Park (BA) University of Maryland, Baltimore (JD) |
| Signature |  |
A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Swalwell worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County from 2006 to 2012. He was elected to Congress after defeating Democratic incumbent Pete Stark in 2012. Swalwell ran unsuccessfully for the party's nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election. He was accused of sexual misconduct in April 2026, leading him to suspend his candidacy in the 2026 California gubernatorial election and resign from Congress, though he continued to deny any wrongdoing.[1][2]
Early life and education
Swalwell was born on November 16, 1980, in Sac City, Iowa. He is the oldest of four sons of Eric Nelson Swalwell and Vicky Joe Swalwell, both of whom are Republicans.[3] During his early childhood, his father served as police chief in Algona, Iowa. After leaving Iowa, the family eventually settled in Dublin, California.[4] He graduated from Dublin High School in 1999.[5]
Swalwell attended Campbell University and played soccer on a scholarship for the Campbell Fighting Camels from 1999 to 2001.[6] He lost his scholarship in 2001 after breaking both his thumbs.[4][7] He transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park and interned for U.S. Representative Ellen Tausche between 2001 and 2002. After his internship, he used his role in the Student Government Association to create a program for children who lost parents in the September 11 attacks.[8] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in government and politics in 2003.[9] In 2006, he received a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law.[10]
Early political career
From 2006 to 2012, Swalwell worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County.[9] He served on the Dublin Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission from 2006 to 2008 and on the Dublin Planning Commission from 2008 to 2010 before winning election to the Dublin City Council in 2010.[11] While he was running for the U.S. Congress, an anonymous group attempted to recall Swalwell from the city council,[12][13] but the effort was later abandoned.[14]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2012
In September 2011, Swalwell filed to run for Congress in California's 15th congressional district.[15] The district had previously been the 13th, represented by 20-term incumbent Democrat Pete Stark. Swalwell took a leave of absence from the Dublin City Council to run for the seat.[4]
Even though he was a Democrat, Swalwell was able to contest Stark in the general election because of California's "top two" primary system put in place by Proposition 14. Under that system, the top two primary vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.[16] In the June primary, Stark finished first with 41.8% of the vote, Swalwell placed second with 36%, and independent candidate Chris Pareja third with 22.2%.[17]
In the November general election, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News both endorsed Swalwell.[18][19][20] The Stark campaign accused Swalwell of being a Tea Party candidate and refused to debate Swalwell during the campaign. In response, Swalwell organized a mock debate with an actor playing Stark, quoting him verbatim when answering the moderator. Other campaign gimmicks included rubber ducks that stood in for rubber chickens and suggested that Stark was too "chicken" to debate. Stark pointed out that the ducks were made in China and criticized Swalwell for not "buying American".[21][22]
Swalwell defeated Stark, 52.1% to 47.9%.[23]
2014
Swalwell was challenged by Republican Hugh Bussell, a senior manager at Workday, Inc., and by Democratic State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett of Hayward. Corbett, placed third in June's primary, not earning enough votes to make the general election.[24] Swalwell defeated Bussell in the November general election, 69.8% to 30.2%.[25] He was sworn into his second term on January 3, 2015.
2016
Swalwell was challenged by Republican Danny Reid Turner of Livermore.[26] He defeated Turner in the November general election, 73.8% to 26.2%.[27] He was sworn into his third term on January 3, 2017.
2018
Swalwell was challenged by Republican Rudy Peters of Livermore.[28] He defeated Peters in the November general election, 73.0% to 27.0%.[29] He was sworn into his fourth term on January 3, 2019.
2020
Swalwell won the 2020 election against Republican challenger Alison Hayden, 70.9% to 29.1%.[30]
2022
In early 2022, Swalwell was redistricted to California's 14th congressional district.[31] He went up against and defeated Republican Alison Hayden, 69.3% to 30.7%.[32] He was sworn into his sixth term on January 3, 2023.
2024
Swalwell was challenged by Republican Vin Kruttiventi. He defeated Kruttiventi in the November general election, 67.8% to 32.2%.[33] He was sworn into his seventh and final term on January 3, 2025.
Tenure
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In his first term, Swalwell served on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He helped lead the fight against Transportation Security Administration administrator John S. Pistole's decision to lift the ban on pocketknives at airport security;[34] the decision eventually was reversed.
During a House vote on June 18, 2013,[35] Swalwell used his mobile phone to record a video of his vote against a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks (the video was a six-second clip of him pressing the "nay" button on the electronic voting machine) and uploaded it to Vine, an internet video service.[36] House rules bar "the use of mobile electronic devices that impair decorum" and provide that "No device may be used for still photography or for audio or video recording."[36] Swalwell defended the action, saying, "We operate under rules that were created in the 18th century, and I think it's time that the Congress start to act more like regular Americans do. I did not see this as impairing the decorum. I think what this did was highlight, for all to see, the democratic process."[36]
On December 12, 2013, Swalwell introduced the Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act into the House.[37] The bill allowed Americans to deduct from their 2013 taxes any charitable donations made between January 1 and April 15, 2014, for the relief of victims in the Republic of the Philippines of Typhoon Haiyan.[37] On March 25, 2014, President Barack Obama signed this legislation into law.[38]
By the end of his first term, Swalwell had gotten three bills through the House and two of them signed into law—more than any other freshman.[39]
In 2014, Swalwell announced that he would serve as chairman of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's O' Say Can You See PAC's Young Professionals Leadership Circle due to his friendship with O'Malley. Although he made clear that his support was about the 2014 midterm elections and not an endorsement of a potential presidential bid by O'Malley in 2016,[40] Swalwell endorsed O'Malley for president in July 2015.[41]
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Swalwell investigated the links between Trump associates and Russian officials during his third term.[42] In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice under the Trump administration seized Swalwell's personal data.[43] The record seizure also targeted Adam Schiff, who chaired the House Intelligence Committee.[44]
Swalwell served as an impeachment manager during President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.[45]
On March 5, 2021, Swalwell filed a civil lawsuit against Trump, Trump's son Donald Jr., Representative Mo Brooks, and Rudy Giuliani, seeking damages for their alleged role in inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol.[46]
In January 2023, Speaker Kevin McCarthy expelled Swalwell and Adam Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee.[47][48]
Contact with suspected Chinese spy
In December 2020, Swalwell was named in an Axios story about suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang (方芳; Fāng Fāng[49]), known as Christine Fang,[50][51][52] who, since at least 2012, had been cultivating contacts with California politicians who the Chinese government believed had promising futures in politics.[53][54] Axios reported that Fang participated in fundraising for Swalwell's 2014 congressional election bid, met Swalwell at events, and helped place an intern inside his congressional office.
Swalwell ended ties with Fang in 2015 after U.S. intelligence briefed him and top members of Congress on concerns that Chinese agents were attempting to infiltrate Congress. Axios reported that Swalwell was not accused of any impropriety, and that officials did not believe that Fang had obtained classified information from her contacts.[50] The San Francisco Chronicle quoted an unnamed FBI official familiar with the investigation as saying that "Swalwell was completely cooperative and under no suspicion of wrongdoing".[55]
Swalwell suggested that someone in the Trump administration may have leaked the information to the press, as he had been a vocal critic of Trump, and had served on committees involved in both of Trump's impeachments.[56] Following the Axios report, Swalwell received death and rape threats against himself and his family.[57]
In March 2021, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy moved to remove Swalwell from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee; his motion was tabled on a party-line vote, 218–200–3.[58] After McCarthy became Speaker in January 2023, he announced that he would remove Swalwell from the Intelligence committee, saying, "If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn't have Swalwell on any committee." Swalwell characterized McCarthy's action as "purely vengeance". Intelligence Committee members are term-limited and Swalwell's membership expired in January 2023.[59][60][61]
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Swalwell in April 2021. The committee wrote him in May 2023 that the investigation had been closed with no further action while also cautioning: "...members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and interactions."[62][63]
Resignation
On April 11, 2026, in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations which caused Swalwell to drop out of the 2026 California gubernatorial election, Axios reported that Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna intended to file a bill forcing the expulsion of Swalwell and representative Tony Gonzales, another member of the House of Representatives accused of sexual misconduct. On April 13, Swalwell announced his plan to resign from Congress.[64] That same day, Gonzales announced his own resignation.[65][66]
Committee assignments
For the 119th Congress:[67]
Caucus memberships
- House Democratic Steering Committee (co-chair)
- American Sikh Congressional Caucus
- Black Maternal Health Caucus[68]
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus[69]
- Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus[70]
- Blue Collar Caucus
- Congressional Blockchain Caucus[71]
- Congressional Ukraine Caucus[72]
- Rare Disease Caucus[73]
Political campaigns
2020 presidential campaign
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 | |
| Campaign | 2020 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries) |
|---|---|
| Candidate | Eric Swalwell U.S. Representative from California's 15th district (2013–2023) |
| Affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Announced | April 8, 2019 |
| Suspended | July 8, 2019 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, California |
| Key people | Ruben Gallego (campaign chair)[74] Lisa Tucker (chief strategist, campaign manager)[74] Garrick Delzell (chief operating officer)[74] Alex Evans (senior strategist)[74] Tim Sbranti (senior strategist)[74] |
| Receipts | US$2,602,439.44[75] (September 30, 2019) |
On April 8, 2019, Swalwell announced his candidacy for president on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[76][77] He made a formal announcement at Dublin High School on April 14, 2019.[78][79]
Swalwell participated in one presidential debate. During the debate, he commented that he was six years old when Joe Biden spoke of passing the torch to a younger generation.[80] Swalwell's polling average never rose above 1%. On July 8, 2019, he withdrew from the race.[81][82] At the time, he was at risk of not qualifying for the second set of debates.[83]
Endorsements
2026 gubernatorial campaign
Swalwell announced his gubernatorial campaign on November 20, 2025, to succeed term-limited Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[84] For the majority of his campaign, Swalwell was the top-polling Democrat in the jungle primary, usually performing better than his Democratic opponents which included former congresswoman Katie Porter, former presidential candidate Tom Steyer, and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.[1]
Swalwell announced his withdrawal from the race on April 12, 2026, after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced.[1]
Rape and sexual misconduct allegations
On April 10, 2026, the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported that more than four women had accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct including rape. One former Swalwell staffer claimed Swalwell had sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion, including in a New York hotel room in 2024 when she was too intoxicated to give consent.[85][86][87] Two of the women claimed that Swalwell sent them unsolicited images of his penis and had requested nude images of them.[88] Politico reported that a former Swalwell employee signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) pertaining to employment discrimination when they left his office. Although the agreement was not related to sexual harassment, it directly contradicted Swalwell's previous claims that no one on his staff signed an NDA.[89] Swalwell described the allegations as "lies" and claimed that they were intended to damage his campaign for governor.[90][91] The Los Angeles Times reported that Swalwell's attorney had sent a cease and desist letter to the staffer and threatened to sue her for defamation.[92]
On April 11, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, said his office was investigating Swalwell for alleged sexual assault.[93] Multiple high-level staffers resigned from Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign in advance of the report, including U.S. Representative and campaign chair Jimmy Gomez. Endorsers, including the California Teachers Association and U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego, rescinded their endorsements of Swalwell.[94] Some issued statements calling for Swalwell to drop out of the gubernatorial election, as did two of his gubernatorial opponents Tony Thurmond and Matt Mahan.[95][96][97] Senior staff members from his gubernatorial campaign and from California's 14th Congressional District office issued a joint statement in which they distanced themselves from Swalwell and expressed support for the women who had come forward.[98][99]
Senator Adam Schiff and former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, both also from California, advised Swalwell to drop out of the race, and he did so on April 12.[1] Schiff had previously endorsed Swalwell.[100] Swalwell faced calls from both sides to be expelled from Congress; representative Anna Paulina Luna announced her intention to file a motion to expel Swalwell.[101] On April 13, he announced that he planned to resign from his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; his resignation took effect the following day.[65] The following day, a fifth woman came forward, accusing Swalwell of rape, drugging her, and choking her unconscious, saying she thought she had died.[102][103]
Political positions
Swalwell has called for greater authenticity from politicians, saying that they should not insult each other publicly and then expect to have friendly relationships "backstage", and comparing some politicians' behavior to a fake, entertainment-focused professional wrestling show.[104] He has proposed the idea of a "mobile Congress", with members casting votes remotely while spending more time in their districts.[105][106]
Domestic policy
In 2019, Swalwell made gun control a signature issue of his presidential campaign, including a ban with a mandatory buyback of all firearms deemed assault weapons, and universal background checks.[107][108]
In 2022, Swalwell was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.[109][110]
In 2025, in response to masked ICE agents conducting increasingly violent and high-profile enforcement actions against both immigrants and citizens on behalf of the Trump administration, Swalwell said that ICE would be more credible if they did not wear masks, and advocated for legislation that would tie ICE's funding to a ban on agents wearing masks in the course of their duties.[111][112]
Foreign policy
In 2017, Swalwell co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, a House bill designed to allow U.S. states to enact laws requiring contractors to sign pledges promising not to boycott any goods from Israel and Israeli-occupied territories or their contracts would be terminated.[113]
In 2019, Swalwell criticized Trump's trade war against China.[114] He condemned the 2019 Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria and called for possibly suspending Turkey's membership in NATO.[115]
In 2022, Swalwell proposed measures such as closing the Russian embassy in the United States and expelling Russian students as part of a broader response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His remarks drew criticism in some media and political commentary, while he defended his position on social media.[116][117][118]
Personal life
Swalwell married Melissa Maranda in 2007.[119] After a divorce, Swalwell married his second wife, Brittany Ann Watts, a sales director at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, in October 2016.[120] They have three children.[121] Swalwell identifies as Protestant.[122]
In 2020, Swalwell purchased a home for $1.2 million in Eckington, Washington, D.C.[123]
In April 2026, Citizenship and Immigration Services said it referred allegations of Swalwell illegally employing a Brazilian nanny several years ago to law enforcement officials at the Department of Homeland Security for investigation.[124]
Electoral history
| Year | Office | Party | Primary | General | Result | Swing | Ref. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Total | % | P. | |||||||||
| 2010 | City Council | Nonpartisan | 6,468 | 36.81 | 1st | Won | [125] | |||||||
| 2012 | U.S. House | 15th | Democratic | 34,347 | 36.19 | 2nd | 120,388 | 52.11 | 1st | Won | Hold | [126] | ||
| 2014 | Democratic | 42,419 | 49.07 | 1st | 99,756 | 69.81 | 1st | Won | Hold | [127] | ||||
| 2016 | Democratic | 110,803 | 76.50 | 1st | 198,578 | 73.77 | 1st | Won | Hold | [128] | ||||
| 2018 | Democratic | 90,971 | 70.49 | 1st | 177,989 | 72.97 | 1st | Won | Hold | [129] | ||||
| 2020 | Democratic | 103,826 | 59.04 | 1st | 242,991 | 70.90 | 1st | Won | Hold | [130] | ||||
| 2022 | 14th | Democratic | 77,120 | 63.62 | 1st | 137,612 | 69.34 | 1st | Won | Hold | [131] | |||
| 2024 | Democratic | 84,075 | 66.74 | 1st | 187,263 | 67.75 | 1st | Won | Hold | [132] | ||||
| 2026 | Governor | Democratic | Withdrew | |||||||||||
| Source: Secretary of State of California | Statewide Election Results | ||||||||||||||
