Rep. Eric Swalwell, a former Democratic presidential candidate who helped lead the second impeachment of President Donald Trump, has officially entered the fray to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom in next year’s gubernatorial race.
His core message? “Prices are too high and people are scared.”
Swalwell, 45, a prominent Trump antagonist on social media and a cable news darling who ran a short-lived bid for the White House in 2019, made the announcement Thursday night at the tail end of a nearly 10-minute interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
After joking that California was “the greatest country in the world,” to laughs from the Los Angeles studio audience, Swalwell grew serious and decried how Californians have been disproportionately targeted by a second Trump administration, whether through vengeful immigration raids or the cancellation of critical cancer and health research.
“This great state needs a fighter and a protector,” Swalwell said.
In a video posted to his campaign website, which went live shortly before his appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” aired, Swalwell says “no one will keep California safer” than he will. He name-drops Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi — the San Francisco titan of Democratic politics who recently announced her own retirement — and points to her decisions to appoint him to the House Intelligence Committee and as one of four Trump impeachment managers following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Swallwell’s announcement comes a day after billionaire liberal activist Tom Steyer announced he is running to replace Newsom when he terms out in 2027. At least six other high-profile Democrats are also running, including former Rep. Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Prominent Republican challengers include Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News contributor Steve Hilton.
The challenge for the seven-term congressman, who said recently he was among the latest of Trump’s political enemies to be targeted for investigation by the Justice Department, will be proving he can govern for Californians at home in addition to sparring with Republicans on the national stage.
“We can say that we’re the fourth largest economy in the world — and we are, and I love to brag about that — but what does that mean if you can’t afford to live here?” Swalwell told Kimmel on Thursday.
On that front, Swalwell offers no concrete policy promises in his initial launch, but instead cites his experience as a planning commissioner and city councilmember for his hometown of Dublin, the Bay Area suburb nestled east of Hayward and west of Livermore. He represents the same region in Congress.
“I’ve worked as a planning commissioner and city councilman in a place of low income and low expectations and helped lead my hometown to become one of California’s most prosperous cities,” Swalwell’s campaign site says. “I’ll take that approach to the whole state.”
