Rep. Eric Swalwell announced Thursday night that he will run for California governor, the latest Democrat to join the crowded race to succeed outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Swalwell, who has served in Congress since 2013, will face a list of high-profile Democrats that includes former Rep. Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and activist billionaire Tom Steyer, who entered the race to lead the deep-blue state Wednesday.
Swalwell announced his gubernatorial run on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" On his new campaign website, the California Democrat focused on the need to tackle high costs and affordability as the reason he's running for statewide office.
"I’m running for Governor because prices are too high and people are scared. California’s next governor has two jobs. One, keep the worst president in history out of our homes, out of our streets, and out of our lives," he said.
He continued, "A lot of candidates talk about taking on Trump. I’m taking him on in real time. My January 6 lawsuit is one of the only lawsuits against the President that survived his new presidency. Speaker Pelosi selected me to help lead his impeachment, and today, I’m leading the Democrats’ effort in the House to investigate January 6."
Swalwell, 45, gained prominence during President Donald Trump’s first term in office when he was heavily involved in both impeachment proceedings. That included a stint as a House manager for Trump’s second impeachment trial.
He also ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, but never polled above the low single digits and ended his bid after just a few months.
Swalwell has remained a fervent critic of Trump, which has made him a target of the president and his allies.
In 2021, Trump and his allies claimed Swalwell had ties to a suspected Chinese spy and had been compromised by a foreign intelligence agency. Swalwell denied those claims and a House Ethics Committee probe ended in 2023 with no finding of wrongdoing.
And earlier this month, a top housing official in the Trump administration referred Swalwell to the Justice Department for a potential federal criminal probe over allegations of mortgage and tax fraud.
NBC News has reported that the allegations are related to a Washington, D.C., home. Swalwell is the fourth Democratic official to face mortgage fraud allegations in recent months.
Swalwell has also been on the receiving end of threatening messages from people objecting to his political stance. In two cases this year, U.S. attorneys have declined to bring charges against people who threatened to kill him, a staff member in Swalwell’s office told NBC News in October.
Swalwell had been widely expected to enter the California race for governor, which lacks a clear obvious front-runner. In California, candidates from all parties appear on the same primary ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.
In addition to Swalwell, Becerra, Porter, Steyer and Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee have also launched bids.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., have both said they will not run.
