Swalwell loses campaign co-chairs, support from outside groups, facing "ugliest & most serious accusations imaginable"

[bigtree]

Andrew Kaczynski @KFILE
Politico is reporting that multiple people have abruptly resigned from Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign:

“Members of senior leadership have departed the campaign, including Courtni Pugh, a strategic adviser who served as Swalwell’s top liaison to organized labor groups.”

The exodus, which began just before the San Francisco Chronicle published a report detailing a former staffer’s claims, jolted California’s marquee race just weeks before ballots start landing in voters’ mailboxes. The former staffer told the newspaper that Swalwell had sexual encounters with her while working for him, and that he sexually assaulted her twice when she was too drunk to consent.

Hours later, CNN reported on that ex-staffer and three additional women who accused Swalwell of making sexual advances and sending explicit photos and messages. And POLITICO reported that a former Swalwell employee had signed an agreement over an employment discrimination claim that included confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses, despite his campaign saying no one on his staff signed an NDA during his tenure.

The dominoes tumbled quickly. Top staffers departed the campaign shortly before the Chronicle story published. Major endorsers began rescinding or pausing their support. And a pro-Swalwell independent expenditure committee said it was suspending operations.

Swalwell’s two campaign co-chairs, Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Adam Gray, called on Swalwell to drop out — a stunning rebuke from key surrogates who had helped introduce Swalwell to power players in Sacramento, where both served in the state Assembly.

“Today I learned shocking information about Eric Swalwell containing the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable,” Gomez said in a statement. “My involvement in any campaign begins and ends with trust. I cannot in good conscience remain in any role with this campaign, and I am stepping down from it effective immediately.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/10/swalwell-campaign-imploding-amid-sexual-assault-allegation-00867619

____Swalwell denied the accusations. "These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor," he said in a statement.

"For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action."

The claims have triggered a swift backlash within Swalwell’s campaign and among supporters. Senior campaign officials have resigned, while several influential groups have withdrawn or reconsidered their endorsements.

The California Teachers Association said it was suspending its backing. "We are immediately suspending our support," its president, David Goldberg, said. "Our elected board will be meeting as soon as possible to follow our union’s democratic process to determine next steps."

The California Medical Association also said it was reviewing its position. "The California Medical Association takes these allegations extremely seriously," said spokeswoman Erin Mellon. "We have convened an emergency meeting of our board."

https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/jimmy-gomez-democrat-eric-swalwell-campaign-sex-assault-allegations-article-154049793

[Gaugamela]

1. This is bad news we didn't need.

[tinrobot]

42. One less candidate in that crowded governor's race?

It's really bad for Swalwell.

But if it lessens the chance of two Republicans on the ballot, it could be oddly good for Democrats.

[hlthe2b]

2. So within an hour of a breaking news accusation, the dominoes are dropping at ballistic speed.

Well, damn.

Having been on both sides of this issue with friends/colleagues I try to have an open mind while the facts come in. But, it seems the barrage is inescapable. I am saddened (and damned scared we will lost the CA gubernatorial race).

[Haggard Celine]

13. I'm also keeping an open mind.

If he was just denying some of it, I would say he needs to drop out and resign, but he's denying all of it. I've always liked Swalwell and I think he would be a good governor. It's just a little too convenient that Trump hates his guts. He could spread a little money around and set this in motion. It's so hard to know who to trust or what to believe anymore. I want to have faith in Swalwell, but life experience tells me I'm being foolish. I need to see more than mere rumours from the internet before I abandon him.

[hlthe2b]

21. Unfortunately when things drop at this rate we may see a repeat of the whole Al Franken debacle

when the RW blew up a far less serious issue--aided by our own- and left him unable to quickly respond before the narrative was written in stone. Not to mention, Franken is a genuinely decent man who, even if a comedic stunt was taken out of context, felt guilt and thus proceeded out of a sense of honor.

Yes, I'm taken by Swalwell denying all. And, times have changed for women in terms of how they look at sexual encounters when they were inebriated and society has (in many cases) supported women's accusations of sexual assault when they were seriously inebriated. In my college days, there would have been zero support for claiming nonconsensual sex after-the-fact after consuming (voluntarily) enough alcohol to render oneself incapacitated. Most of the women in my circles that I went to school with would have taken their own responsibility for anything but truly coercive (or violent) sex as a lesson about alcohol--especially looking back years later. But today with the several drugs that can be administered without consent, we rightfully look at this differently. And, of course there can be a violable line with alcohol as well.

But I am really uncomfortable with the rate at which this is progressing. Even IF Swalwell was innocent, there may not be realistic time to fight back and avoid the rapidly falling dominoes. Public sentiment is just too quick to harden.

[krawhitham]

27. All 4 women say he send them nudes, well release them

4 women

[orleans]

32. i believe they said he was doing that on snapchat

which deletes posts automatically

the article says:

"The women said Swalwell generally sent more graphic messages via Snapchat, where messages are automatically deleted after short periods of time. Snapchat also warns senders if screenshots are captured."

i found that helpful since i don't know shit about snapchat

[Haggard Celine]

29. Yeah, you're right, it's probably already too late.

It's a shame. It's so easy to destroy some of us these days and much too hard to destroy others. Things move so fast nowadays. I wish Swalwell the best. If he wants to fight it, I'll support that. If he can get through all of this, he might have a career again.

[Alice B.]

30. Thinking of my own college days, I do remember those same attitudes and culture

[MorbidButterflyTat]

26. That's the point, isn't it?

Clearing the way for a MAGAt governor?

[orleans]

36. whose "point" are you referring to? the 4 women or cnn for publishing the article?

my takeaway is that if someone is in a position of trust (such as a politician who is elected) then don't be a fucking slut dog!

but, honestly, when i heard a week or two ago that he was friends with bondi i thought: "what the fuck is wrong with you?" and i was pretty much over him at that point

what an absolute disappointment

[JI7]

31. More likely Steyer will rise in polls

[tinrobot]

43. The Democrats need some candidates to drop out.

I would assume the barrage is partly because of that. Some of it also be the veracity of the claims from multiple women.

Be glad these allegations dropped now and not during the general election.

[tulipsandroses]

3. Yikes. Do they know more than the public knows at this point??

If the assault allegations are true. He needs to drop out and resign.
Sigh, if this turns out to be another man who could not keep it in his pants then he should stay in congress and quit the GOV race. Unfortunately even if he did not do it, the damage may have already been done.

[mwmisses4289]

10. "...the damage may have already been done."

That is the whole point. He has been one of the most vocal critics of trump, and looks to be gov of CA.
the timing of this just seems to coincidental. something just doesn't feel right about this.

[tulipsandroses]

14. I agree the timing is fishy. But the speed of which people are abandoning him, makes me wonder if they have seen things

we are not privy to. I saw something about text messages or pictures. Have they seen things that make him look bad, even if they are not criminal acts?

[dem4decades]

4. Who should be the Democratic candidate? Swallwell has to drop out.

[tinrobot]

44. Porter and Steyer are each polarizing in their own way.

Becerra might be the safer choice. He's not polarizing and certainly has the resume.

That is, if he can start campaigning better.

[Frasier Balzov]

5. I don't know how to feel about this.

I always thought of Eric Swalwell as someone deserving of support.

I know that Trump and Bondi and Kash Patel have been trying to smear him, and my reflexive instinct has been protective of him.

This statement from departing campaign leadership must be very dispiriting to the Congressman.

[mwmisses4289]

6. Ok, so let me get this straight...

We have a convicted felon pretending to be president in the white house, creditably accused of raping and sexually assaulting children and women, and none of his staff is walking out or calling for his resignation.
Swalwell is simply alleged to have done sexual assault, and his staff is ditching him. Colour me very suspicious-something about this seems very, very, very off.

[choie]

9. I concur.

I admit that because he's a democrat, I don't want to believe it. But it does make me question whether we're ;handling these situations well. If it's not true, his career is ruined he will become a pariah anyway and his career is ruined. AND once again, just like with Al Franken, Democrats scamper away from their colleague before it is known if the claims are true.

[tinrobot]

45. I think this is a bit different than Al Franken.

Much more serious charges.

And I don't think Franken's senior staff resigned immediately after the revelations.

[tulipsandroses]

12. It makes me wonder if they know something we don't. It seems rather odd that so many are ditching him

I'm wondering if there are text messages, pics and such that they have seen. Even if it does not prove assault, if he was sending inappropriate sexual or even flirty text messages to staff - he's toast.

[Lovie777]

7. Swalwell is my choice...............

[choie]

8. I'm a Swalwell fan, so I can't believe this is true.

Damn it's going to be so deflating if it is true. He's such a good elected official.

If it is - FOR FUCK'S SAKE - what is wrong with men? can't control themselves?

[lostnfound]

18. FFS is right. Eliot Spitzer. Anthony Weiner. Cuomo. John Edwards.

so annoying. People with important things to say. Well, not Cuomo. But you know it’s just so dumb.

[choie]

20. It's the elixir of power.

[Jack Valentino]

38. Too many of us 'think' with our penis....

[FloridaBlues]

11. There must be some hard fact and proof of these allegations

Why didn’t this come out before, if true he must of known this would come out.
Are there any republicans behind this I wonder?

[not fooled]

16. Why oh why did he run

If the allegations are true, he should have known they would be made at some point, especially if there are photos and other electronic evidence.

Wow, takes some brass ones to run under those circumstances.

[leftstreet]

34. Entitlement, arrogance

The "oh those rules don't apply to me" attitude

Not qualities you want in your elected reps, for sure

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

17. 5 women now, one went to hospital after assault, told people

Not looking good.

[MerryBlooms]

25. Been hard fact of proof of trump and his wife, yet here we are

This was not the Friday news drop I expected. Ugh

[Sibelius Fan]

15. This may crack open the door for Tom Steyer - the non-politician in the race.

I know DUers don’t like billionaires - one wonders how the billionaires haters would have felt about backing JFK, back when being a millionaire was a big deal - but Steyer has put his money where his mouth is, supporting progressive initiatives with his $ for decades. The other D candidates in the race don’t have Swalwell’s name recognition (maybe Katie Porter - I was happy to support her when she was my Representative).

There might be an anti-politician surge that comes out of this.

[Ocelot II]

19. Well, that's unfortunate. But at least it came out before the primary.

I have to say that while I've always been impressed with Swalwell's tough, determined attitude vs. the GOP, I've also found him to be kind of off-putting - a bit too full of himself. Maybe that's why he figured he could run for governor without any of these accusations coming to light. I hope the allegations aren't true, but the fact that there are multiple consistent complaints suggests that they really might be. This isn't like the Al Franken situation.

[Janbdwl72]

28. Some high profile supporters are leaving Swalwell. If he can't make it, which Democrat should garner support?

Just wondering. I am not a California resident, but certainly want to see a Democrat succeed Newsom. I am the most familiar with Steyer and Porter. I had thought Swalwell was the front runner and would have beaten either Republican pretty handily.

I thought the Democrats were setting themselves up for problems with six candidates splitting the vote such that there was a chance that two Republicans would be the top two vote getters. The state's Democratic voters need to get serious and coalesce around one candidate to avoid disaster. Hopefully this could provide a warning that Democrats need to unify. And some of the bottom feeders need to drop out of the race.

[tinrobot]

46. Don't think Steyer will get official Dem support.

So it will probably be down to Porter or Becerra.

[VMA131Marine]

22. The timing of this is suspicious considering how long Swalwell has been in the public eye

That said, if there are photos and texts and audio then there’s no reason not to publish them to back up the claims. If the accuser has the goods then put up or shut up because there’s so much money being shovelled into this race it wouldn’t be surprising if there were some dirty tricks going on. Even if the accusations are debunked or at least not proven, the damage is done. But, now we need to know the truth either way. It wouldn’t shock me if Roger Stone was behind this.

All that said, how is it Trump is found liable for raping someone and still gets elected President again. The double standard on the part of the Republicans is staggering.

[RussBLib]

23. Ugliest and most serious would be child molestation

iMHO. Sexually assaulting anyone is bad, but to do it to children would, to me, be the “ugliest and most serious” allegations.

But I’m picking nits.

https://russblib.blogspot.com/?m=1

[Haggard Celine]

35. I was thinking along those lines myself.

Serial killers, child molesters, that's nothing compared to sending dick pics.

[EdmondDantes_]

41. Please don't try to diminish the accusations by saying it's just sending a dick pick

He's been accused of rape and she has contemporary witnesses that she told about the attack as well as getting checked for STIs.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. The speed with which those endorsements were pulled says a lot, and none of it good.

[malaise]

33. If they are true

Eff him

[Lancero]

37. Always sad to see how quickly #TrustWomen gets thrown under the bus...

When it involves a white, male, Democrat.

SA is morally reprehensible, but I suppose that's a purity test to some.

[mwmisses4289]

54. Maybe because the timing is too suspicious?

Supposedly some of this happened a several years ago- why didn't it come out then? He's been in the public eye for quite awhile. Why now, when he's running for gov? Also, he's a very vocal critic of t- and t is out for vengeance on anyone who criticizes him. T has been accused of murder - why aren't there stronger calls for him to resign and why isn't his staff ditching him?

[orleans]

39. wow...

[bigtree]

40. House leadership

[dem4decades]

47. Put a fork in him. He's done. And that pisses me off, i liked the guy

But screw him, he knew his actions and this was out there, and he risked the state for his own personal ego.

[LeftInTX]

48. There are 20 Democrats running in this jungle primary! Only a few are viable.

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2026-primary/cert-list-candidates.pdf
What's with this Barack Obama Shaw guy??

We had 27 people run for mayor of San Antonio last year. I have not been very happy with our mayor. She had a big push from the DNC, which is not a good fit for a non-partisan, weak mayor city charter. The mayor only has two votes and is supposed to be a collaborator, not an chief executive. Plus she doesn't seem to getting along with other council members.

Our city council is Democratic with only two GOP.

The problem with our mayoral race was that no one could get behind any specific candidate. In the end, the DNC stepped in with a ton of $$$. We had four city council members who were running, but we ended up with an outsider.

What's the matter with Xavier Becerra? I would think he would be good to get behind.

[yorkster]

52. Becerra has been in congress and was CA

AG, then Sec. of Health and Human Services during Biden's term. Always found him impressive.

[GoodRaisin]

49. I think I will withold my opinions on this until more evidence comes out. If he is innocent, his lawyer(s)

should depose his accusers as quickly as can be arranged so more facts be determined. I don’t think he should resign his congressional seat now, but it might be better for Democrats if he exits the governor race so his supporters can get behind another Democrat.

[videohead5]

50. This is really fishy

He's been a congressman for years. Why didn't these women come forward before now? If he did any of it then he needs to quit, but this could also be a hit job.

[jmbar2]

51. I'm really conflicted on these accusations

He has had big political ambitious for a long time, and also a law background. I simply cannot imagine anyone so ambitious and well-known committing such serious abuses.

If it is fake, it also undermines "MeToo" and "Believe the Women" sentiments. That would be very convenient for men who are abusers of women, to create doubt when women do speak up against the powerful.

So if false, it serves two purposes - to knock Swallwall out of the race, and to cast doubt on women speaking up.

If the accusations are true, he needs to disappear. I am really hoping they aren't. I cannot believe he is that stupid.

[crimycarny]

53. Swalwell has always rubbed me the wrong way

I could never put my finger on it, but something about him has always rubbed me the wrong way about him. But nothing along the lines of sexual assault, more like a bit of eager kid, earnest face that was a bit of a calculated act. No harm in that, that’s the majority of Washington, but it was a bit off putting to me.

All of that being said, I also want to give him the benefit of the doubt and time to respond. The Democrat royalty (Pelosi, Schumer, Schiff) already jumping on the bandwagon like they did with Biden. Shocker (not).

The thing is, when the allegations came out about Al Franken (which were such bullshit), I never believed for a second Al Franken was the type of man who would ever want to make a woman feel uncomfortable by something meant as a joke, let alone sexual assault.

Eric Swalwell doesn’t give me that same sense of “no way”. I am NOT saying I believe the allegations without more information and Eric getting a chance to tell his side. And the timing is extremely suspicious. So I won’t be joining the circular firing squad many of our Democratic leadership are so found of.

[Pacifist Patriot]

55. Insert seriously explicit curse word here.

I don't know what to think other than feeling gutted.