The political community is reacting to news that California Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-Castro Valley) is entering the race for Governor.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The political community is reacting to news that California Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-Castro Valley) is entering the race for Governor.
He made the announcement Thursday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“Our state – this great state – needs a fighter and a protector, someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up,” Swalwell told Kimmel.
Born in the East Bay city of Dublin, Swalwell’s campaign website says he was raised by Republicans in a working class family, was the first in his family to attend and graduate college and worked as a prosecutor in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. He has served in Congress for about 12 years.
Swalwell joins a growing list of Democratic candidates, including billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer, who announced his run for Governor earlier this week.
Swalwell says he believes California’s Governor has two main jobs: making a better state for everyone by focusing on housing and jobs, and protecting the state from the Trump Administration.
“I am a collaborator, that is my default,” Swalwell said at a virtual news conference Friday afternoon.
ABC10 spoke with a Republican and Democratic strategist about their reaction to Swalwell’s news and how the race is shaping up.
“It’s probably one of the least surprising announcements we’ve seen in this governor’s campaign, but he certainly did it with a splash on the Jimmy Kimmel show,” said Republican strategist Tim Rosales. “He’s certainly taking the position of moving kind of hard left in terms of his messaging, so that’s where he sees his lane as a candidate in the Democratic field at this point.”
Rosales pointed out Swalwell is younger, fresh-faced and charismatic.
“All of those things, I think, make him a unique candidate compared to the rest of the field, at this point, on the Democratic side,” Rosales said. “The question is: is that going to be attractive to Democratic base voters?”
ABC10 asked Swalwell how he sees himself among the Democratic candidates.
“I don’t see myself as hard-left. I see myself as hard-aspirational for this great state, where – again – we, with pride, say we are the fourth largest economy in the world, but most people are asking, ‘What does that mean if I can’t afford to live here?’” Swalwell responded.
Swalwell has also been a staunch critic of President Trump for years.
Earlier this month, a Trump Administration official referred Swalwell to the Justice Department over allegations of mortgage fraud—which Swalwell denies, calling it a political attack.
“I don’t wake up to fight Donald Trump; I wake up to fight for Californians,” Swalwell said.
He said he’d defend California against any attacks by the Administration.
“Where our state is under attack – where our immigrants are being chased by ICE agents and troops are in the streets and cancer research funding is being taken, I will be a fighter and protector for our immigrant community but also recognize that we can’t count on the federal government to fund the priorities of our state,” he said, adding he’d leverage his international relationships to entice other countries to do business with California.
With a crowded field of candidates that could see more names added, Democratic strategist Mike Trujillo – who supports former LA Mayor and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor – says says he thinks voters next year will have more high-profile choices than they’ve had in nearly three decades.
“The last time Democrats in California have had a real choice was 1998,” Trujillo said. “That’s when we had Jane Harman – Congresswoman Harman; we had Al Checchi, the businessman; we had Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis. All three were spending real money. All three had real operations. They ended up running against our Attorney General, Dan Lundgren, who was the Republican.”
After Davis were Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom, all of whom won by decisive margins.
Trujillo said Steyer and Swalwell will likely pull supporters from a Democrat who had been at the top of the pack for awhile: Katie Porter.
“A Steyer candidacy, a Swalwell candidacy, will potentially eat more at a Katie Porter base and sort of dilute her support further,” he said.
One thing both Swalwell and Steyer have in common – aside from announcing their candidacy for Governor this week – is, they both ran for President in 2020.
In response to Swalwell’s news, Republican candidate for Governor, Chad Bianco, released a statement that says, in part, “Eric Swalwell was a total failure when he ran for President…Californian’s [sic] need a Governor who has the credibility and integrity to save our state from the Newsom years and that is not Swalwell.”
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