Rep. Eric Swalwell abruptly ended his California gubernatorial bid after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, including a former staffer who says he raped her in 2019 and assaulted her again in 2024, a saga that cost him endorsements, staff, and fundraising as the Manhattan District Attorney looked into an incident in New York.
Eric Swalwell had been rising in the Democratic field for California governor when accusations exploded over a weekend, bringing a campaign that once looked viable to an immediate halt. Four women publicly accused him of inappropriate behavior, and an ex-staffer alleged a 2019 rape and a 2024 assault at a charity event, which drew attention from prosecutors in Manhattan. Those claims landed on top of a career built around aggressive attacks and performative virtue, and the fallout was swift.
Swalwell labeled the accusations a MAGA conspiracy, but the narrative didn’t come from the right; it circulated among progressive influencers and media outlets and gained traction quickly. The accusers were not anonymous figures pulled from the ether—reports indicated Swalwell knew most or all of them, which undercut his defenses. Once the campaign lost credibility, endorsements and donations evaporated almost overnight, leaving staff to abandon the operation.
With the campaign in tatters and little path forward, Swalwell suspended his run tonight.
Eric Swalwell suspended his bid for California governor amid sexual assault and misconduct allegations that threw his campaign into a tailspin, upending the race to lead the nation’s most populous state.
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The Democratic congressman’s exit completed a stunningly swift collapse for a candidate who had shown signs in recent weeks of pulling ahead of a crowded Democratic field, with prominent interest groups and elected officials beginning to coalesce behind him.
But an ex-staffer’s allegation that Swalwell had sexually assaulted her, detailed in a San Francisco Chronicle report and followed by more misconduct allegations in a CNN report, led those allies to abandon Swalwell en masse as high-level staffers departed his campaign.
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With Swalwell’s departure, the contest enters an even more uncertain phase. Polls have consistently placed Swalwell in the top tier of Democrats, along with former Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire Tom Steyer, although none have established themselves as a commanding frontrunner. Steyer and Porter called on Swalwell on Friday to both suspend his campaign and to forfeit his seat in Congress, arguing he was no longer fit to serve.
Everyone could see this unspooling weeks before the headlines hit; the impression of a reckless, attention-seeking politician made it easier for allies to step away once the first serious allegation surfaced.
And the news about the nanny today: The additional details fed a narrative of bad judgment and poor boundaries that many voters and donors found impossible to ignore. Each new report made it harder for Democrats who had been flirting with his candidacy to keep offering support.
When he lost backing from heavy hitters like Nancy Pelosi and House leadership, and saw prominent supporters tell him to step aside, the campaign’s collapse accelerated. Republican voices were quick to point out the obvious political consequences, and some conservatives said they had predicted this outcome based on conversations inside Democratic circles.
Now the question of whether Swalwell should resign from Congress hangs over the story, separate from his halted run for governor, and legal exposure adds another layer of uncertainty. He has denied the worst allegations, but denials have not been enough to stop the exodus of staffers and the withdrawal of institutional support. The coming days will focus on how investigators, party officials, and voters respond.
The episode leaves one thing clear for now: a once-prominent political trajectory is in freefall, and a lot of people who backed him early are distancing themselves to avoid being dragged into the controversy.
