Democrats were already fretting about the California governor's race – a tangle of candidates with strong résumés but little star power vying to lead the country's most populous state and the world's fourth largest economy. Then on Sunday, the closest claim the Democrats had to a frontrunner, Eric Swalwell, suspended his campaign amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which the US representative forcefully denied and vowed to fight. On Tuesday, another woman came forward to accuse the congressman of raping her in a West Hollywood hotel in 2018. Hours later, facing the threat of an expulsion, he formally resigned his seat in Congress.
A lawyer representing Swalwell said in a statement to multiple media outlets that he 'categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him'. The sudden downfall of the 45-year-old East Bay congressman has thrown an already fluid contest into complete disarray.
According to veteran Democratic strategist Garry South, who has worked on four California gubernatorial campaigns, it is the state's 'most curious' governor's race in recent memory. With the candidate filing deadline passed and ballots scheduled to land in voters' mailboxes early next month ahead of the 2 June primary election, California Democrats are now left to sort through their options – and quickly.
'This really tosses the table over,' said Kim Nalder, a political science professor at Sacramento State. 'You'll see some Democratic voters taking another look at candidates that maybe weren't at the top of their list.' Amid the upheaval, Swalwell's seven Democratic rivals are scrambling to win over his former supporters. Early indicators suggest Katie Porter, a former US representative, and billionaire Tom Steyer, the leading Democrats in the race, are most likely to absorb the voters who favoured Swalwell, though they have both faced skepticism from Democratic voters. Other lower-polling candidates, including former US health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San José mayor Matt Mahan, believe they, too, have an opening.
For much of the past year, the race to replace Gavin Newsom as governor has proceeded like an afterthought, overshadowed by Donald Trump's turbulent return to the White House and last year's all-encompassing redistricting campaign. Democrats spent months awaiting a decision by Kamala Harris, who had returned to California after her 2024 presidential loss to Trump, but she ultimately declined to run. There was hope that Senator Alex Padilla might jump in, but he opted out. At the party's convention in San Francisco in February, support fractured and no Democrat won enough delegates to secure an endorsement for governor.
In recent weeks, Swalwell had started to gain momentum, scooping up high-profile endorsements and edging ahead in polling. The seven-term congressman cast himself as the right choice to lead California and the opposition to President Trump. Then on Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that a female former staffer said the congressman had sexually assaulted her twice. CNN published a similar account hours later, as well as allegations from three other women of Swalwell sending them unwanted explicit photos or messages. The reaction has been swift, leaving the Democratic field in a state of flux.
