A political bombshell dropped Friday as multiple news outlets reported allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, against Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California congressman and candidate for governor of the state. Swalwell has denied the most serious allegations against him and so far resisted calls from members of his own party to drop out of the race as California approaches a June primary election that could benefit Republicans due to the rules of the state’s election process.
Multiple women accuse Democratic congressman of sexual assault, harassment
On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN broke stories of allegations from at least four women who have accused Rep. Swalwell of sexual misconduct. The most serious accusations come from a former aide who says Swalwell began sending her increasingly explicit messages via texts and Snapchat when she was 21; Swalwell was 38 and married to his wife at the time. The interactions between Swalwell and the young woman, whose identity is being withheld, included an incident in which she performed oral sex on the congressman in a parked car. The woman later describes two incidents in which she believes that Swalwell had sex with her while she was too intoxicated to consent. In one instance, occurring in 2019, she does not remember the encounter but woke up naked in Swalwell’s bed and could feel the effects of intercourse. During the second encounter, in 2024, the former aide says she remembers waking up to Swalwell having sex with her, at which point she told him “no” and attempted to push him away. The Chronicle confirmed that the woman took pregnancy and STD tests one week after the second alleged encounter, and the paper spoke with several people, including her then-boyfriend, who confirmed that she told them about the assaults shortly after the 2024 encounter.
Shortly after the Chronicle story was published, CNN revealed exclusive reporting about the alleged assaults as well as accusations from three other women that Swalwell had engaged in sexual misconduct against them, including groping or sending nude pictures to them without their request or consent. One of the women is publicly identified as social media content creator Ally Sammarco, who says she reached out to Swalwell over social media to discuss politics and eventually received unsolicited nude photos from him. Sammarco reposted the CNN report and calls for Swalwell to resign on her X page. In a reply post, she dismissed Swalwell’s claims that the accusations were politically motivated. “None of this is a smear campaign,” she wrote, “just a disturbing pattern of behavior by someone who never should have run for higher office.”
As Swalwell vows to fight, his exit could boost Democrats in unusual California election
The congressman previously dismissed weeks of online rumors of sexual misconduct as smear campaigns against him as he runs for governor of California, but the reaction to Friday’s reports has decimated his campaign. After the reports of alleged sexual harassment and sexual assault became public, multiple staffers have quit his campaign. A number of Swalwell’s top Democratic allies in California and in Congress, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, have called on him to drop out of the governor’s race. Swalwell has so far resisted these calls and has denied the specific allegations made by his four accusers; his lawyers have sent cease-and-desist letters to at least two of the women. Swalwell posted a video on social media admitting to making “mistakes in judgment” but stating that “those mistakes are between me and my wife.” He rejected the allegations of sexual assault as “flat false” and vowed to fight them.
The accusations against Swalwell and calls for him to end his campaign come at a crucial point for Democrats, who, despite usually dominating statewide elections in California, face an unusual challenge in this year’s governor’s race. Unlike many other states, California runs a nonpartisan primary vote for governor, with the two candidates with the highest vote totals moving on to the general election, regardless of party. With eight major Democratic candidates in the race, Democrats have been concerned that their candidates might split the vote in the June primary and allow the two major Republicans to advance to the general election in November. Before the reports broke, Swalwell was considered one of the leading candidates in the race, and the party was urging lower-ranked Democrats to drop out. Now, as calls grow for Swalwell to drop his bid for governor, his exit could boost the chances of other prominent Democrats in the race, such as billionaire Tom Steyer or former Rep. Katie Porter.
Rep. Swalwell currently faces allegations that could end his race for governor, threaten his political career altogether, and potentially expose him to civil or criminal liability as well. And with weeks to go until a California primary that is occurring during a tense and pivotal election year for the United States, the fallout of the allegations against Swalwell may radically reshape the race for governor of the country’s most populous state.