Eric Swalwell Suspends Campaign Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) announced on Sunday evening, amid multiple accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior and at least one accusation of rape, that he was suspending his campaign for the California governorship.

“I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” Swalwell announced in an X post. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

I am suspending my campaign for Governor.

To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.

I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.

— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) April 13, 2026

Swalwell once again declared his innocence — as he had one day prior in a video announcing his plan to fight the accusations against him, which he described as “flat false.” Since Friday, Swalwell has been hit with several accusations ranging from inappropriate and sexually charged messages to at least one accusation of rape.

In the time elapsed since the first accusations were publicly reported, a number of elected Democrats have withdrawn their support for his gubernatorial campaign and have called for him to bow out of the race. Others have taken that a step further and have suggested that he also resign his congressional seat — and some have said that they would, should the opportunity arise, vote to expel him from Congress.

The California congressman’s announcement comes as several other investigations are already underway — including a DHS investigation into reports that he hired a Brazilian nanny and then lied about the fact that she was living in the United States illegally.

His employees followed suit, with a group of senior staffers from both his congressional office and his gubernatorial campaign office issuing a joint memo on Saturday and resigning en masse. They withdrew all support from Swalwell and promised to stand with their former colleagues who had come forward to accuse him — and they also  called on voters to withdraw support from Swalwell.