Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress Monday afternoon, less than a day after he suspended his campaign for governor of California \u2014 a swift fall from power for one of the top candidates to lead the nation\u2019s most populous state.<\/p>\n
Swalwell said he would \u201cfight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.\u201d<\/p>\n
If voters were confused about whom to support in California\u2019s wide-open race for governor, Swalwell\u2019s exit amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct may leave them as mystified as ever.<\/p>\n
The Democratic race for governor remains a toss-up, with some observers saying Tom Steyer and Katie Porter are most likely to benefit from Swalwell\u2019s withdrawal.<\/p>\n
But they may not be the only ones, and it\u2019s not clear that either one of them will immediately surge into the lead.<\/p>\n
An independent campaign committee supporting San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has pulled in $12 million in new and previously committed contributions from wealthy donors since Friday, committee spokesperson Matt Rodriguez said, indicating Mahan\u2019s backers see an opening.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re launching $4.5 million worth of TV and digital ads Tuesday. Before the weekend\u2019s stunning news about Swalwell, Mahan had been one of the race\u2019s lower-polling candidates, getting 3% of likely voters\u2019 support<\/a> in a poll commissioned last week by the state Democratic Party.<\/p>\n In theory, one fewer Democratic candidate in the race should help liberal voters consolidate the field. But in a race that was already anyone\u2019s to win, Swalwell\u2019s exit has only \u201ccaused more confusion,\u201d said political strategist Marva Diaz, who primarily works with Democrats but is not involved in any gubernatorial campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen something so in flux while ballots are about to drop,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Because he dropped out after a statutory deadline to formally withdraw from an election, Swalwell\u2019s name will still appear on the June 2 primary election ballot. That makes it possible the East Bay congressman still get some votes, but his rivals are already seeking to scoop up as many of his supporters as possible.<\/p>\n Both billionaire climate advocate Tom Steyer and law professor and former Rep. Katie Porter circulated polls indicating they could both pick up a sizable portion of Swalwell\u2019s potential voters.<\/p>\n Pollsters with the Public Policy Institute of California and UC Berkeley both agreed Steyer and Porter were the most likely to benefit from prior Swalwell supporters.<\/p>\n Until the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a> and CNN<\/a> last Friday published stories with explosive sexual misconduct allegations from four women, including a former staff member, Swalwell had consistently polled ahead of most other Democrats in the race for governor. He was often in a three-way tie for lead Democrat alongside Porter and Steyer, with each of them getting between 10% and 15% of voters polled, tied with or trailing the two leading Republicans<\/a>, Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco.<\/p>\n And though Swalwell counted among his supporters a sizable share of the Democratic establishment \u2014 his colleagues in Congress, major labor unions and other Sacramento interest groups \u2014 it was by no means a consensus.<\/p>\n Now, after those groups have scrambled through emergency weekend meetings to pull their endorsements, they\u2019ll have to slog through their internal procedures if they want to back another candidate for governor.<\/p>\n That gives voters fewer pointers on which candidate to back, Diaz said. Some organizations, she added, may be hesitant to endorse another candidate out of concern they, too, could have damaging backgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people look to labor for guidance, especially on the Democratic side,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cWhen labor organizations are not working in tandem, it causes a lot of confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n Swalwell was one of four Democrats the California Labor Federation jointly endorsed for governor, along with Porter, Steyer and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The federation, which could not reach consensus on any individual candidate, likely won\u2019t be revisiting its other endorsements with Swalwell gone, president Lorena Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n But the Service Employees International Union, California Teachers Association and other heavyweights in Democratic politics which had endorsed Swalwell and then withdrew their support may not have time to go back to the drawing board to pick a new candidate.<\/p>\n The teachers\u2019 union\u2019s endorsement process, for example, required a vote among hundreds of members from across the state; the union\u2019s next such meeting isn\u2019t scheduled until after the June 2 primary.<\/p>\n Representatives of both unions said they did not have any campaign updates Monday. A spokesperson for the California Professional Firefighters, another major Swalwell supporter, did not respond to inquiries.<\/p>\n The effects of Swalwell\u2019s exit on public polling of the race may not be seen for weeks. Donors often look to such measures of a candidate\u2019s performance to decide who to back.<\/p>\n In the last survey UC Berkeley\u2019s Institute of Governmental Studies conducted of the governor\u2019s race, in March, Swalwell\u2019s supporters leaned more liberal and progressive, said institute co-director Eric Schickler. Swalwell also did better than other candidates among older voters and white voters.<\/p>\n Those voters cut a similar profile to Porter\u2019s supporters, Schickler said, lending credence to the idea that his supporters would start following her.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the other hand, Porter has had trouble, for a visible politician, has had trouble winning over a lot of Democratic establishment figures in her own right,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at the support, it\u2019s a little more similar, but not so striking to say these supporters automatically go there.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Swalwell\u2019s congressional seat, it\u2019s not clear when he\u2019s stepping down. But he said he would work with his congressional staff to ensure they are able to meet the needs of his San Francisco East Bay district, where he was first elected in 2013.<\/p>\n Swalwell\u2019s resignation announcement Monday leaves the call for a special election to finish his term entirely at Newsom\u2019s discretion, since the candidate filing deadline for the June primary has passed, according to the state election code<\/a>.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s office would not say Monday whether the governor will do so.<\/p>\n