Swalwell Ends California Governor Bid After Misconduct Claims

On Sunday, April 12, 2026, Rep. Eric Swalwell posted on X that he was suspending his campaign for California governor. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he wrote, according to CNN. “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made - but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

Less than 48 hours earlier, Swalwell had been considered a top contender in the California governor’s race, a Democrat who had built a national profile and assembled a credible coalition of institutional supporters ahead of the state’s June 2 nonpartisan primary. The speed of what followed - once CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle published reports of misconduct allegations on Friday, April 10 - became the story in itself.

A Coalition That Dissolved in Hours

The institutional collapse was both swift and public. Campaign co-chair Rep. Jimmy Gomez resigned his position and called on Swalwell to exit the race. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told him to end his bid. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on him to drop out. California Sens. Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego both withdrew their endorsements. An independent expenditure group that had been backing Swalwell announced it was immediately suspending all activity, according to CNN. ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform for Democratic campaigns, stopped accepting donations on his behalf.

Multiple campaign staffers resigned Friday, and those who remained were reported to be seeking other employment, according to CNN sources with knowledge of the situation. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, while not immediately calling on Swalwell to withdraw, described the allegations as “deeply troubling and must be taken seriously.”

The Race It Leaves Behind

Swalwell had occupied what Republican strategist Mike Madrid described to CNN as a distinct lane: the most explicitly anti-Trump candidate in the field, a positioning that had helped him consolidate support. That lane does not automatically transfer. With the June 2 primary weeks away, the remaining Democratic field - which includes billionaire Tom Steyer, former Rep. Katie Porter, former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - now competes for a supporter base that had coalesced around a specific argument, not just a candidate.

On the Republican side, Steve Hilton, endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco remain the leading contenders. Democrats had long been concerned about the possibility of being shut out of the general election entirely if their vote split too widely in the jungle primary format.

The Speed of It All

Political careers have ended over misconduct allegations before. What distinguished the Swalwell collapse was the institutional choreography - the speed at which named, senior Democratic figures moved publicly, the coordinated nature of the withdrawals, and the fact that the campaign infrastructure around him began dissolving before he had announced a decision. Whether that reflects a changing political culture, the specific severity of the allegations, or the compressed timeline of a primary weeks away is a question California Democrats were left to sort out as the field reorganized around his absence.

References: Democrats withdraw endorsements of Eric Swalwell and demand he end bid for California governor | Eric Swalwell ends campaign for California governor after sexual misconduct allegations