{"id":261819,"date":"2026-04-10T23:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T23:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261819\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T23:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T23:14:08","slug":"california-democrats-tell-rep-eric-swalwell-to-drop-out-of-governors-race-following-sexual-assault-allegations-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261819\/","title":{"rendered":"California Democrats tell Rep. Eric Swalwell to drop out of governor\u2019s race following sexual assault allegations \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of Rep. Eric Swalwell<\/a>\u2018s allies in the race for California governor \u2014 as well as his fellow Democratic candidates<\/a> \u2014 called on the congressmember to drop out on Friday, following allegations of sexual assault made by one of his former staffers.<\/p>\n

The ex-staffer described instances of sexual harassment and assault during her time working for Swalwell in his Castro Valley district office, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a> on Friday afternoon, April 10. In one instance, she alleged that she met Swalwell for drinks in 2024. She said she became so intoxicated that she blacked out for portions of the night, but recalled telling him \u201cno,\u201d yet he allegedly forced himself on her, she said.<\/p>\n

Swalwell, through a spokesperson, denied the allegations and said he would \u201cdefend our decades of service against these lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Democrats were quick to praise the staffer for coming forward and call on Swalwell to exit the race and\/or resign from Congress.<\/p>\n

Among those is Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who in December was named campaign chair for Swalwell. The Los Angeles Democrat quit the campaign Friday afternoon shortly after the Chronicle\u2019s story was published.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy 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,\u201d said Gomez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe congressman should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction or delay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The California Teachers Association, which endorsed Swalwell in March, also said it was suspending its support<\/a>. Another backer, the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, said it \u201cis acting urgently to follow our constitutionally prescribed democratic process to determine next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling the allegations \u201cdeeply disturbing,\u201d California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks said, \u201cany person engaged in misconduct must take responsibility and be held accountable for their actions \u2014 including a Member of Congress and candidate for Governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy call for all \u2014 repeat, all \u2014 candidates for Governor to \u2018honestly assess the viability of their candidacy and campaign\u2019 still stands,\u201d Hicks said, referring to his plea to lower polling Democrats to drop out<\/a> of a crowded campaign for governor to avoid a lockout by two Republican contenders. \u201cIn fact, that call is more important now than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there has been a decided lack of a real frontrunner in the campaign for California\u2019s next chief executive, Swalwell has been polling toward the top of the pack.<\/p>\n

A UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies survey of registered voters<\/a> in March showed former Fox News Host Steve Hilton<\/a> in the lead with 17% support, followed closely by fellow Republican, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco<\/a>, at 16%.<\/p>\n

Then came the Democratic candidates: Both Swalwell and former Rep. Katie Porter<\/a> had 13% each, followed by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer<\/a> at 10%.<\/p>\n

From there, former U.S. Housing and Human Service Secretary Xavier Becerra<\/a>, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan<\/a>, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond<\/a>, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa<\/a> and former state Controller Betty Yee<\/a> polled at 5% or lower.<\/p>\n

Swalwell\u2019s fellow Democrats in the race were quick to release statements on Friday praising the former staffer \u2014 who was not named in the Chronicle report because of a policy against outing alleged victims of sexual abuse \u2014 with some calling on him to end his gubernatorial campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cEric Swalwell should be nowhere near any position of power, much less be the governor of California,\u201d said Steyer. \u201cHe must resign from Congress and drop out of the race immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becerra said: \u201cThese horrific allegations do not reflect the values of California, especially not someone who seeks to be its leader. Eric Swalwell should suspend his campaign and allow a clear process of accountability to play out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the survivor who risked everything to come forward \u2014 I believe you. To the Democratic Party \u2014 you\u2019d better hold him accountable. If we don\u2019t, we have no credibility asking anyone else to do the same. To (Swalwell) \u2014 drop out,\u201d Mahan said in a post<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cEric Swalwell needs to drop out of the race for governor and resign from Congress,\u201d said Thurmond<\/a>. \u201cCalifornia cannot have a governor who treats the people who work for him as something to take advantage of. We cannot have a governor who silences victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that victims are finally being heard, it has become abundantly clear that Eric Swalwell must withdraw from the governor\u2019s race and immediately resign from Congress,\u201d said Villaraigosa. \u201cI\u2019m calling on him to live by the words that he has repeatedly professed, and encourage all victims to come forward to speak freely without fear of threats or legal retribution from Mr. Swalwell, so that he can face accountability for his alleged actions.<\/p>\n

Yee said: \u201cThe accusations outlined against Rep. Eric Swalwell are sickening. He needs to withdraw from the governor\u2019s race and resign from Congress, immediately. Let the women speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter, meanwhile, stopped just short of telling Swalwell to exit the race. A spokesperson for her campaign did not immediately answer questions about whether she would do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegations against Congressman Swalwell are horrifying. I\u2019m thinking of the courageous women who have come forward to share their stories. We believe you, and we stand with you,\u201d said Porter.<\/p>\n

Ian Calderon<\/a>, the former Assembly majority leader who backed Swalwell after ending his own campaign for governor, said Swalwell<\/a> should resign from Congress as well as drop out of the race.<\/p>\n

Hilton, though, took the opportunity to slam \u201ccareer politicians\u201d and unions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to me that Eric Swalwell thought he could run for Governor of California while all this was going on,\u201d said Hilton, who was recently endorsed by<\/a> President Donald Trump, who was found liable for sexual abuse in 2023<\/a> and has been accused of sexual misconduct and assault<\/a> by multiple women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows the complete contempt these career politicians have for the public,\u201d Hilton continued. \u201cIt\u2019s also incredible that the big unions that run California picked Swalwell as their puppet, knowing full well that all this was out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swalwell has denied the accusations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cFor nearly 20 years, I have served the public \u2014 as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of Rep. Eric Swalwell\u2018s allies in the race for California governor \u2014 as well as his fellow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1400,7,9,8,400,1751,204,92191,100,13,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-261819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-california-politics","13":"tag-democrats","14":"tag-election","15":"tag-governor-race","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}