From White House hopeful to scandal: Swalwell’s short-lived 2020 bid resurfaces after resignation

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s political collapse amid scandal was sudden.

With sexual assault and harassment allegations mounting, the Democratic representative who was one of the leading contenders in California’s 2026 campaign for governor dropped out of the race on Sunday. Two days later, he resigned from Congress.

The congressman’s stunningly swift collapse comes seven years after a then 38-year-old Swalwell made a short-lived and highly unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

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"We’re getting close. I've got staff in Iowa. We're hiring in New Hampshire, South Carolina right now. I’m starting to put together the infrastructure that you need. But I see nothing but green lights on this journey so far," an optimistic Swalwell said in a January 2019 Fox News Digital interview.

The soon-to-be candidate was in New Hampshire courting supporters and activists in the state that for a century held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

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Swalwell officially launched his campaign during an April 8, 2019, appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

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His campaign slogan was, "Go Big. Be Bold. Do Good." And Swalwell made gun control and student debt reform key components of his presidential platform.

Swalwell was one of 20 Democratic presidential candidates who qualified and took part in the first round of debates, which were held over two nights in June 2019.

But failing to poll above 1% and facing the prospect of failing to make the stage at the second Democratic presidential debate, Swalwell suspended his campaign on July 8, 2019, just three months after declaring his candidacy.