Eric Swalwell, a seven-term Democratic US representative known for his pugnacious and persistent opposition to Donald Trump, announced on Thursday night he will run for governor of California.
The congressman declared his candidacy during an appearance on the ABC late-night show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
“This great state needs a fighter and a protector, someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up,” Swalwell said. “So I came here tonight, Jimmy to tell you and your audience that I’m running to be the next governor of California.”
Swalwell’s announcement comes shortly after the billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer entered the already crowded field vying to succeed Gavin Newsom, who is coming to the end of his term limit.
A former Alameda county prosecutor, Swalwell, 45, rose to prominence through his clashes with Trump, a profile that could bolster his appeal among Democratic voters who in November overwhelmingly approved a new congressional map pitched as a way to check the president’s power before next year’s midterm elections.
Swalwell briefly sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and later served as a House impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial, which centered on Trump’s role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
On Capitol Hill, he served for eight years on the House intelligence committee, including the CIA subcommittee, and was a key Democratic voice on national security and election interference issues. He is also a founding member of the Future Forum caucus, aimed at representing young voters in Congress.
Polling shows the contest lacks a clear frontrunner after the former vice-president Kamala Harris and California senator Alex Padilla declined to run. The former representative Katie Porter led early surveys, but has struggled to shake off concerns about her temperament after she threatened to walk out of a local television interview and after footage surfaced of her berating a staff member. Porter has since apologized for her behavior but reports suggest Democratic strategists are searching for an alternative.
Other Democrats include the former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the former state attorney general and US representative Xavier Becerra and the former state controller Betty Yee. The two most prominent Republicans running for governor are the Riverside county sheriff Chad Bianco and the former David Cameron adviser Steve Hilton. The field could expand further, with developer Rick Caruso reportedly weighing a run.
California’s next governor will inherit a long list of structural challenges, including an uncertain water supply, persistent gaps in public education, a severe housing shortage and widespread homelessness. Meanwhile, the state continues to struggle with unemployment and poverty rates, rising costs of living and recurring budget deficits, leaving whoever wins the race with little time to settle in before confronting major policy tests.
In his remarks to Kimmel, Swalwell emphasized that affordability – and taking on Trump – would be the twin themes of his campaign.
“I love California. It’s the greatest country in the world,” Swalwell said, noting that the state’s economy is the fourth largest in the world. “I love to brag about that. But what does that mean if you can’t afford to live here?”
He continued: “I’ve been in these fights as a city council member up in Dublin, my home town, as a prosecutor in Oakland, and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the US Congress. But I’m ready to bring this fight home.”
Since Trump’s return to the White House in January, Democrats have demanded leaders willing to push back on the president’s agenda. With a punchy social media presence and penchant for blunt language, Swalwell will aim to leverage his anti-Trump reputation as a credential in the contest to lead the nation’s largest blue state.
The venue for Swalwell’s announcement was intended to underscore his readiness to take on Trump – Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended by ABC under pressure from the president and his allies after the host made comments about the assassination of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel thanked Swalwell for demanding the show be brought back on air, and showed a photograph of the congressman and several colleagues on Capitol Hill wearing Kimmel merchandise in support.
Earlier this month, a housing official in the Trump administration referred Swalwell to the justice department for a potential federal investigation, based on mortgage and tax fraud allegations that the representative has denied. The official, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, Bill Pulte, has made similar allegations against several of the president’s perceived political enemies, including the California senator Adam Schiff and New York attorney general, Letitia James.
Asked about the investigation on Thursday night, Swalwell called it “nonsense” and vowed that he and other Democrats would not be intimidated by Trump’s tactics.
Swalwell also faced scrutiny over an alleged relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative a decade ago. The House ethics committee later closed its inquiry without findings of wrongdoing, but Republicans continue to use it as a basis of attacks against him.
