Sacramento – The big-money backers and Democratic heavyweights who tried to crown Rep. Eric Swalwell as California’s next governor before he was swept from the political arena by scandal are now struggling to find a new favorite among candidates they either rejected or actively tried to undermine.
Swalwell announced Monday that he would resign his seat in Congress. He faces possible removal and an ongoing criminal investigation after reports became public Friday alleging he sexually harassed a young, female staff member and behaved inappropriately with three other women, including sending them nude photos. Swalwell denied the allegations and in his announcement Sunday that he was dropping out of the governor’s race, he vowed to fight to clear his name.
The immediate beneficiaries of Swalwell’s downfall are likely former Orange County Representative Katie Porter and billionaire financier Tom Steyer. Both were challenging Swalwell to become the top Democrat in the race, even though both faced attacks from within the party on various issues.
This new round of anarchy only promotes Concern runs rampant in California Democratic Party For months, fears simmered that the lack of a single party leader could lead to two Republicans being on the November ballot. Swalwell’s exit from the race also could revive candidates who have languished in the middle of recent opinion polls — former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan — adding to the uncertainty.
“What happens now depends on what the campaigns do to exploit this,” said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic political consultant who is not involved with either campaign. Other candidates, he said, “can use this as an opportunity to make their case.”
He didn’t waste any time.
Porter’s campaign aired internal polling Sunday that showed nearly half of Swalwell’s supporters listed him as their second choice. Steyer announced support from lawmakers including Representative Jared Huffman of Northern California, who was among the first House Democrats to call on Swalwell to resign from Congress.
Others immediately used Swalwell’s departure as a fundraising tool.
“This changes the race,” Mahan’s fundraiser Stephanie Daly Smith wrote in an email blast to supporters on Sunday, adding that Swalwell was “gaining real traction in the Bay Area media market and now has vote share up for grabs.”
Former Comptroller Betty Yee said on her email list Monday that “we can forget the surveys” that showed Swalwell in the lead, suggesting he moved because of “an obsession with who gets the role.”
“I’m not a show-off and I don’t look to be ‘part’ of what people talk about winning,” she said.
Swalwell’s campaign had been gathering momentum over the past month. A poll released in mid-March by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Government Studies and co-sponsored by The Times showed that Swalwell and Porter both had the support of 13% of likely voters, with Steyer not far behind. The top Republicans in the race, former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, lead with 17% and 16% support, respectively.
Elected officials, labor unions, and other groups who had supported Swalwell abandoned him en masse after the allegations against him were publicized. But it is not clear which candidate those influential voices will support next.
While many Democrats see Steyer and Porter as the next most viable candidates, they each have their own baggage. Steyer has faced criticism during the campaign over his former hedge fund’s investment in a private prison company that is now housing people detained by federal immigration authorities, while Porter’s campaign is still plagued by embarrassing videos in which he berated a staffer and berated a television reporter.
Primary election ballots would begin arriving in California voters’ mailboxes in a few weeks, and Swalwell’s campaign was gaining momentum and financial support that other candidates could now get.
Powerful organizations, including the California Medical Association. And SEIU California has poured millions of dollars into independent expenditure committees supporting Swalwell. But as the scandal unfolded, their leaders called emergency meetings to withdraw their support and banned advertisements supporting them. Neither has indicated whether they will endorse again in the race.
Over the weekend, Democratic members of the Legislative Women’s Caucus hastily organized a call with Porter and Yee — the only women left in the field of top candidates — according to two people familiar with the conversations. Although many lawmakers had not planned to endorse either candidate, they are reconsidering, driven by anger at Swalwell and disappointment that other qualified women, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, had already dropped out of the race.
“The Epstein files keep coming, Cesar Chavez rocked California and now this,” said one lawmaker on the call. “If we cannot elect a woman to the highest office of the state in 2026, what is wrong with us?”
Swalwell reported raising more than $7.4 million in direct donations as of April 9, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance data. About 60% of contributions were from California donors.
Another of Swalwell’s benefactors and longtime Democratic donors was Stephen J. Klubek said he is changing his party registration and considering endorsing Hilton for governor.
“Don’t be surprised,” Klobek said in an interview Monday.
“We probably agree on 90% of the issues,” he said, adding that he has met Hilton about a half-dozen times and appreciated her campaign message. “We are friends. I’m for unity. I come from old-school unity. I don’t cast aspersions.”
A protégé of the late Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Klobek entered the gubernatorial contest but dropped out after Swalwell, with whom he had a long-term friendship, jumped into the contest. Klobek endorsed the Congressman and put nearly $1 million into an independent expenditure committee supporting him. Swalwell stayed at Clobeck’s Beverly Hills mansion after news of the allegations against him broke – until Clobeck threw him out.
Klobek said he knows all seven prominent Democrats who remain in the governor’s race and has long said he is not impressed by any of them. He said he wanted the California Legislature to amend the state constitution so he could apply to run again for governor.
Donna Bojarski, a longtime Democratic political insider in Los Angeles, attended a Swalwell fundraiser organized by Hollywood business leaders earlier this year.
“People are terrified,” Bojarski said. He said there had been rumors about sexual indiscretions, but none suggested an allegation of sexual harassment.
Swalwell has close ties to the industry and was set to be an executive producer on a film about the country’s gun crisis before his name was pulled in a labor dispute. He also runs a real estate investment firm and media company that produces television, film, and online content.
Actors Sean Penn, Robert De Niro and Jon Hamm are among several Hollywood celebrities who donated to Swalwell’s campaign for governor.
Bojarski hopes the silver lining of the scandal is that “there may be more races” as people examine the field of candidates.
“People are paying attention,” she said.
