California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell launched his governor bid Thursday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, portraying himself as the Golden State’s “protector” against President Donald Trump.
Swalwell’s leap into the crowded race for California’s governor’s mansion comes shortly after Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte handed the Department of Justice (DOJ) a criminal referral alleging Swalwell engaged in mortgage and tax fraud. The Democrat and former prosecutor has represented a portion of the Golden State’s Bay Area in Congress since 2013, and has established himself as a prominent foe of the president.
“Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector. Someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up,” Swalwell said in the interview with host Jimmy Kimmel. “I’ve been in fights as a city council member in Dublin, my hometown, as a prosecutor in Oakland, and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the U.S. Congress. But I’m ready to bring this fight home.”
Swalwell’s desire to run for higher office in 2026 was first reported by MSNBC. Prior to announcing his entrance into the race, a fundraising page for the congressman’s gubernatorial campaign was posted to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue before being taken down Sunday, Politico reported Monday.
Allies have reportedly been urging Swalwell to run on a more moderate platform than his now-rival, former Democratic California Rep. Katie Porter, according to Politico.
Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi had appointed Swalwell as an impeachment manager during the second impeachment trial against Trump. The Congressman has also publicly advertised merchandise for the No Kings protests on his social media accounts.
“What the American people are saying right now is they want Donald Trump out of our homes, out of our streets, out of our lives, and out of this studio,” Swalwell told Kimmel, who was briefly benched by the Federal Communications Commission in September over his comments about Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Swalwell’s entry into the gubernatorial fold does not mark his first try for higher office. He performed poorly in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and became among the first Democrats to drop out of the race months before the caucuses in Iowa — the state he was born in.
A suspected Chinese spy named Christine Fang — also known as Fang Fang — notably served as a volunteer on Swalwell’s 2014 campaign for reelection to the House, taking part in fundraisers for the congressman and even planting at least one intern in his office, multiple outlets reported in 2020. The House Ethics Committee in 2023 cleared Swalwell of all wrongdoing in his alleged relationship with Fang.
After much speculation, Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla, announced in early November he would not be running for governor.
Besides Swalwell, Democratic candidates currently in the race include Porter, former Biden-era Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Diamond Resorts founder Stephen Cloobeck, former longtime state legislator Toni Atkins, former State Controller Betty Yee, climate investor and billionaire businessman Tom Steyer and California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Republicans running for the governor’s mansion are Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
Recent polling has shown a drop in support for Porter this fall following her interview with CBS News in which she threatened to storm out of the interview after accusing her interviewer of asking “argumentative” questions about her gubernatorial bid.
After the interview went viral, another video of Porter from a 2021 Zoom call was leaked, showing the congresswoman shouting at her aide to get out of her “fucking shot” when the staffer walked into the camera’s view in an attempt to correct an earlier statement about electric vehicles Porter had stated as fact. Porter also made headlines when it was revealed her ex-husband accused her of dumping scalding mashed potatoes on his head and burning his scalp.
Swalwell’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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