Between the collapse of Eric Swalwell‘s campaign and Donald Trump‘s surprise endorsement of Steve Hilton, the race for California governor was upended in the span of a week.
Swalwell dropped out of the race Sunday night … after sexual assault and misconduct allegations threw his campaign into a tailspin. The East Bay representative, who had earlier vowed to continue his campaign, denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer.
“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell wrote on X. “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”
As Jeremy B. White reports, Swalwell’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, as prominent labor unions, interest groups and Sacramento powerbrokers united behind him.
Now, those influencers are rushing to find a new candidate … and Democrats in the contest are angling to scoop up Swalwell voters. Both Katie Porter and Tom Steyer’s camps touted polling Sunday to suggest they are well-positioned to pick up a large swath of his support.
Porter’s camp noted an internal poll from February that suggests she is the second-choice candidate for 46 percent of Swalwell supporters. Steyer’s camp, in turn, touted a separate poll that suggests he’s the No. 2 candidate for 25 percent of Swalwell voters, slightly less than Porter.
A former Swalwell campaign adviser, who was granted anonymity to share internal polling, told Playbook that Porter was likely the next choice for much of Swalwell’s base: older, white liberals from the Bay Area.
Meanwhile, the super PAC backing Matt Mahan announced a massive fundraising haul over the weekend. More on Mahan below…
The post-exit jockeying is well underway, but Swalwell’s troubles could be far from over … and several lawmakers including fellow Bay Area Reps. Jared Huffman, Sam Liccardo and Ro Khanna have called for his exit from Congress after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
“I’ve seen enough,” Huffman said in a social media post, vowing to support an expulsion vote if Swalwell doesn’t resign. “With his nuanced statement aimed at defending likely criminal charges, Swalwell all but admits a per se abuse of power under House ethics rules: sex with a subordinate.”
He could also face possible criminal prosecution … The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is now investigating allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer in a New York City hotel room in April 2024, allegations detailed in reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. POLITICO did not independently verify the reports.
Swalwell went silent for much of the weekend … after he denied allegations that he sexually assaulted the former staffer who said she was too drunk to consent. “They are absolutely false,” Swalwell said in a social media video posted Friday. “They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything that I have.”
There are few allies standing with Swalwell, even within his own campaign and congressional office … and senior staffers from both operations released an unsigned statement over the weekend expressing support for women who came forward. They said, “any decision of staff members to remain in their roles in the interim should not be viewed as support for Eric Swalwell.”
A few dozen former Swalwell office and campaign staffers also released a statement Sunday, expressing support for their former colleague. They wrote, “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.”
Meanwhile, Republicans are embroiled in intra-party conflict … after delegates at the state Republican Party Convention refused to back Hilton despite Trump’s endorsement.
As Blake reports from the convention in San Diego, the GOP delegates’ decision not to endorse Hilton or Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco came amid worsening fears about the party’s prospects in the midterms, including in critical House battlegrounds in California.