Eric Swalwell Suspends Campaign After Sexual Misconduct and Rape Accusations: ‘Deeply Sorry for Mistakes in Judgment’

California gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-CA, appears at a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) announced on Sunday night he was suspending his campaign to become California’s next governor following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct were made against him last week, including one former staffer who accused him of raping her twice.

The Democratic representative shared he was dropping out of the race on X.

“I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” Swalwell posted. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistake in judgement I’ve made in my past.”

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

Swalwell quit his bid to succeed Gavin Newsom (D) two days after a former staffer accused him of raping her twice in a report from the San Francisco Chronicle. 

CNN reported later on April 10 that multiple women had accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including the woman mentioned in the Chronicle report, who said he raped her in 2019 and another time during a trip to New York City in 2024; the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Saturday announced it was launching a probe into the 2024 rape accusation.

“I remember the next day, I can see flashes of that evening, of him on top of me, me pushing him off, him grabbing me. It was a lot more aggressive — it was aggressive,” the accuser told CNN’s Pamela Brown about one of the alleged rapes. Her face was kept in the dark on camera.

“Did you say no?” Brown asked her.

“Yes, I said no. In the flash that I can recall, I was pushing him off of me saying ‘no,’” the accuser said.

Swalwell told the Chronicle, “These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor.”

The reports sent staffers fleeing from his team and led to members of his congressional office and his gubernatorial team releasing a statement saying they were “horrified” by the accusations; those staffers added they “stand with” his accusers. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said on Saturday she planned on forcing a vote to boot Swalwell from Congress when lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. next week. Her plan has some bipartisan support, with one House Democrat telling Axios on Sunday it was time to “get the garbage out of here.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

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