Eric Swalwell, D-Ca., speaks at a press briefing in 2022. He announced Thursday that he will run for governor of California. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo
Rep. Eric Swalwell, R-Calif., announced Thursday he will run for governor of California in 2026 to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited.
Swalwell, 45, announced on his official campaign website Thursday evening before announcing again on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he received a standing ovation.
“Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector,” Swalwell told Kimmel.
“I’ve been in these fights as a city council member up in Dublin, my hometown, as a prosecutor in Oakland and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the U.S. Congress, but I’m ready to bring this fight home,” Swalwell said.
Swalwell described some of the issues California faces.
“I love California. It’s the greatest country in the world. The greatest country. But that’s why it pisses me off to see Californians running through the fields from ICE agents. Or troops in our streets. It’s horrifying. Or cancer research being canceled. It’s awful to look at,” Swalwell said on Kimmel’s show.
“We can say that we’re the fourth largest economy in the world, and we are, and I love to brag about that. But what does that mean if you can’t afford to live here?” Swalwell said.
The field for the office is crowded. Democrats include former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, former Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and entrepreneur Tom Steyer. Republican candidates include political pundit Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Billionaire Steyer, 68 announced Wednesday that he would run because “Californians deserve a life they can afford.” Steyer ran for president in 2020.
Swalwell has been in the House of Representatives representing California’s 14th Congressional district since 2013, which is in the Bay Area. He was a prosecutor in Alameda County, which includes Oakland and Berkeley.
He ran for president in 2020 and made gun control the center of his campaign. He called for a complete ban on assault rifles.
In September, Swalwell was one of four named to the House’s new Jan. 6 committee. He has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump for years.
In 2024, a 72-year-old man was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for threatening to kill Swalwell and his family.
