Eric Swalwell suspends campaign for California governor amid sexual assault allegations

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Representative Eric Swalwell announced he is suspending his campaign for California governor Sunday amid sexual assault allegations reported on by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. 

“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” he wrote in a social media post Sunday. 

Multiple women, including a former staffer, accused Swalwell of sexual assault, according to the reports. 

Swalwell has denied the allegations.

One former female staffer told the Chronicle and CNN she worked with Swalwell for nearly two years and alleged she had two separate non-consensual sexual encounters with him. The report says she worked for Swalwell in 2019 and alleged that two of the encounters occurred when she was too intoxicated to consent.

She also alleged that another incident happened in 2024 after a charity event, saying she told him “no” while he forced himself onto her. The report says she did not go to police because she feared they would not believe her given Swalwell’s political position, but she did seek medical care for an STD and pregnancy test after the alleged assault.

CNN reported that three other women have also come forward with allegations of misconduct, including claims of inappropriate messages.

The allegations prompted swift political fallout and prompted prominent supporters, including Sen. Adam Schiff and powerful labor unions, to pull their endorsements and call for his exit from the race. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., who helped run Swalwell’s campaign, said he was immediately ending his role.

Over the weekend, with Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign already teetering, Democrats in Congress began to call for his resignation from the House. Some even said they would support the rare step of expelling him should he refuse to step aside.

Fellow California Reps. Jared Huffman, Ro Khanna and Sam Liccardo said Swalwell should resign, as did Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico and Pramila Jayapal of Washington state.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Jayapal said Sunday. “This cuts across party lines. And it is depravity of the way that women have been treated.”

The California gubernatorial election will take place in November.