Democratic Party candidate for California Governor and current US Congressman Eric Swalwell held a town hall meeting at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Sacramento on Tuesday April 7, 2026. It was a packed house with a diverse and friendly audience except for one incident of heckling which had more to do with politics in the Middle East than California. The Congressman spoke quite candidly on several topics including immigrants, the state economy, and the environment. He also answered questions from regular working Californians, many of them union members and state workers.
It is a very crowded race for California Governor this year with several Democrats running, to the point where there is a concern that the top two candidates may end up being Republicans, former Fox News famed Steve Hilton (already endorsed by President Trump) and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. California law only allows the two highest vote getters in the primaries (being held on June 2nd this year) to run for office in November irrespective of their party affiliations.
Swalwell asked everyone to raise your left hand if we thought that our state and our country are in trouble, and followed up with a request to raise our right hands too if we believe that California and our country are in the most trouble that we have ever seen in our lifetimes (to which he received quite a response). He added that this was the reason why he was running for Governor. He then shared a story about a couple in Iowa (where he was born) named Vicky and Eric (not him) Swalwell, his parents. After struggling, and with Eric losing his job for standing up for his principles they moved to California, just like a Syrian refugee who got his girlfriend pregnant in Wisconsin. They had a boy named Steve who would grow up and create a lot of Jobs (he founded a company named Apple). That is the magic of California, said Swalwell.
The Congressman lamented the fact that right people in our state are scared. He said that the next Governor of California has two jobs to do: 1) Put a firewall between Californians and the President and his ICE Agents and 2) Bring down the cost of living in the state! He added that he currently represents the third most diverse congressional district in America with about 40 percent foreign born residents who may currently feel intimidated. He said that he has introduced legislation in Congress to ensure that ICE observes the law.
The second topic, high costs and affordability in California, got the most traction here at this event. Swalwell shared the efforts that he would make to bring down the cost of housing in our state, which has become a formidable obstacle for young people who want to live here. The age of first-time home buyers in California is now over 40 years, hardworking dual income families. He said that in California we are a Blue State which is held down by Red Tape and that he would do everything that he could to increase housing supply. He said that families should be able to afford a house during their first working decade in California.
Swalwell also criticized President Trump for removing many Californians from subsidized healthcare coverage. He said that currently in Congress he has had a solid record on defending the Affordable Care Act and that he would continue supporting it. On affordability for common people, he said that under his leadership, California will not be a “Corporate Welfare State” and that his emphasis will also be on increasing worker wages. In the “New California,” being the fourth largest economy in the world will mean something to you, he said.
In the Q&A session that followed, affordability of housing, healthcare, goods and services and retirement continued to be hot topics of discussion. And before any state employee could mention the issue, Congressman Swalwell beat them to it and said that he supports telework, and that working from home also saves the state money.