San Francisco Bay Area Democrat Eric Swalwell, a vexing foe and frequent target of President Trump and Republicans, announced his candidacy for California governor on Thursday.
The congressman announced his bid during an appearance on ABC's late-night show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, adding a bit of Hollywood flair to a crowded, somewhat sleepy race filled with candidates looking for ways to light the fire in the 2026 election.
Voter interest in the race remains relatively waning, especially after two of California's most prominent Democrats – former Vice President Kamala Harris and current US Senator Alex Padilla — decided to skip the race after months of speculation. About 44% of registered voters said at the end of October that they didn't choose a preferred candidate to lead California, the most populous state in the union and the fourth largest economy in the world.
However, the lack of a blockbuster candidate in the race continues to encourage others to join it. Earlier this week, billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer announced his bid. and other prominent Democrats are exploring the possibility of running.
Swalwell, a 45-year-old former Republican and former prosecutor who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020, said his decision was driven by the serious challenges facing California and the threats posed to the state and nation by Trump in the White House.
“People are scared and prices are high, and I see the next governor of California will have two jobs — one keeping the worst president ever in our homes, on our streets and in our lives,” Swalwell told The Times. “The second challenge is to create what I call a new California, and that's especially acute for housing and affordability in a state where we have the highest unemployment rate in the country and the average age of first-time homebuyers is 40, so we need to get that down.”
Governor Gavin Newsom cannot run for re-election due to term limits, and he is currently mulling a presidential bid in 2028.
None of the candidates in the race, including Swalwell, have the fame, success or fundraising talent of California's recent governors: Newsom, California political icon Jerry Brown and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“If you look at the last three governors, they were all individuals,” Jim DeBoo, Newsom's former chief of staff, said at a policy conference at the University of Southern California on Tuesday. “When you look at the field right now, most people don't know much” about the candidates in the crowded race, despite their political bona fides.
About a dozen prominent Democrats and Republicans are running for governor next year, including: former Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, State Counsel. community educator Tony Thurmond; former Comptroller Betty Yee and conservative commentator Steve Hilton. And rumors continue to swirl about billionaire real estate developers Rick Caruso and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta may enter the race.
On Thursday, Thurmond proposed a tax on the wealthy to fund education, health care, firefighting and construction. The proposal was seen in part as a sneak attack on Steyer and Caruso, who both used their wealth to finance previous presidential elections.
“Skeptics say California's super-wealthy already pay enough and that taxing billionaires will stifle innovation and force companies to leave our state,” he said in an online video. “I don’t buy it.”
Steyer described his decision to leave the hedge fund he started in California as an example of his desire to give back to state residents in an ad that will begin airing Friday.
“It's damn simple. Solve the cost of living crisis or get the hell out. Californians are the hardest working people in the country. But the question is who will benefit from it,” he says in the ad, claiming that he has taken responsibility for corporations that refused to pay government taxes, as well as oil and tobacco companies. “Let's get to the point: it's too expensive to live here.”
Porter also pursued Steyer, another sign that the race is heating up as the June primary approaches.
“Our race's newest billionaire claims he will fight the very industries he made rich by helping grow – fossil fuel companies, tobacco companies and private immigration detention – at enormous cost to Californians,” she wrote on X on Wednesday.
The former congresswoman has been the target of recent attacks from Democratic rivals in the governor's race after videos surfaced of her cursing at a reporter and arguing with an aide. Yee said she should withdraw from the race and Villaraigosa criticized her in the ad.
Villaraigosa also attacked Becerra for his involvement in a scandal that rocked Sacramento last week in which money from one of his campaign accounts was funneled to his former chief of staff while Becerra was working in the Biden administration.
“We don't have a strong, credible opposition party in California, so you'll end up seeing a lot of action on the dance floor during the primaries, obviously between the Democrats, and that will be interesting,” said Elizabeth Ashford, who worked for Schwarzenegger, Brown and Harris and is currently advising Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. “Obviously there's a lot of long-standing relationships, long-standing loyalties and interactions between these people. So what's going to happen? It's a big question mark.”
The ability to protect California from Trump's policies and political vindictiveness, while also addressing the state's affordability, housing and homelessness crises, will be critical to Swalwell's potential path to the governor's mansion. His decision to announce his decision on Kimmel's show was telling: The host's show was briefly suspended by Walt Disney-owned ABC under pressure from Trump after Kimmel commented on the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel thanked Swalwell for his support during that period, including the congressman handing out pro-Kimmel merchandise to his colleagues in Washington, D.C., before the two discussed the state's future.
“I love California, it's the greatest country in the world. Country,” Swalwell said. “But that's why it infuriates me when I see Californians running through the fields where they work from ICE agents or soldiers on our streets. It's terrible. Cancer research is being canceled. It's terrible to see. And our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a champion, someone who will lower prices and raise wages.”
There is a story of Californians announcing campaigns on late-night television. Schwarzenegger launched his bid for governor in 2003 on The Tonight Show, hosted by Jay Leno; Swalwell announced his unsuccessful bid for president on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Swalwell said he has visited nearly 40 countries and will try to leverage the relationships he has built by creating an ambassador program to find global research money for California given the cuts the Trump administration has made to cancer research and other programs.
The congressman is perhaps best known for his criticism of Trump on cable news programs. But he also faced many attacks.
In 2020, Swalwell came under scrutiny for his association with Chinese spy Fang Fang, who was raising money for his congressional campaign. He cut ties with her in 2015 after intelligence officials informed him and other members of Congress about Chinese efforts to infiltrate the legislature. He was not accused of impropriety.
The Justice Department is also investigating him on mortgage fraud charges, which he has dismissed as retaliation for being a fierce critic of Trump.
Swalwell served on the Dublin City Council in the East Bay before being elected to Congress in 2012, defeating Rep. Pete Stark, a fellow Democrat.
A native of Iowa, Swalwell grew up in Dublin, which he said was a “low-income town” that was called “Scrublin” at the time. He said that after law school he worked on the local planning commission, which helped transform Dublin. The city increased housing construction, attracted Fortune 500 employers, exponentially increased the number of students going to college, and attracted developers to improve schools, resources for seniors, and police and fire services.
“We have a Whole Foods chain that no one can afford to shop at,” he said.
