Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Yuri Gripas | Reuters
Rep. Eric Swalwell on Sunday evening said he was suspending his campaign for California governor on the heels of sexual misconduct allegations against the Democratic lawmaker.
“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said in a post on X announcing his campaign’s suspension.
“I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” he added.
Swalwell’s announcement came after growing calls that he drop out of the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, and a day after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it was investigating a claim that Swalwell sexually assaulted one of his accusers in New York City in April 2024.
Swalwell had been a leading contender in the governor’s race until the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday reported that a woman who had worked on his congressional staff for nearly two years alleged that they had sexual encounters while he was her boss and that he sexually assaulted her on two occasions when she was too intoxicated to give consent.
Shortly after the Chronicle broke that story, CNN reported that in addition to that accuser, “Three other women who spoke with CNN also alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman – including Swalwell sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.”
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