The excitement round Castro Valley-based U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell probably leaping right into a packed California’s governor’s race has grown to a fever pitch this week, with allies posting – and rapidly eradicating – a fundraising web page this previous Sunday, and the legislator reserving an look on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday night time.
Whether or not the East Bay consultant finds success in what UC Berkeley Political Communications Professor Dan Schnur calls probably the most “wide-open race for the governor’s office in 50 years” shall be decided by how a lot consideration Swalwell can garner by framing himself as probably the most anti-Trump candidate, Schnur stated.
By six phrases within the Home of Representatives, Swalwell has established himself as one of the crucial vocal opponents of President Donald Trump and his administration. The previous Alameda County prosecutor, who lives in Livermore, began his profession in politics as a Dublin metropolis councilmember earlier than taking his profession to Capitol Hill to symbolize components of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. In 2021, Swalwell served as impeachment supervisor towards President Donald Trump within the wake of the Jan. 6 rebellion.
Swalwell didn’t return requests for remark, however those that have seen his political-strategy expertise first-hand say that if he does enter the race, he’ll shock many citizens who might not but know him.
“I can tell you he’s a very driven campaigner and he works hard. He’s a fighter and he doesn’t lose,” stated Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, who campaigned with Swalwell in 2012. “If he did make that decision (to run for governor), he would be a strong candidate.”
The 2026 governor’s race is extraordinarily aggressive, with 10 candidates having already declared their ambition for the state’s larger workplace. The competitors for voters’ consideration is without doubt one of the major keys to victory subsequent fall, Schnur stated, and that begins with a powerful marketing campaign launch.
Swalwell is scheduled to seem on Kimmel’s present Thursday night time, giving him a nationwide platform with a late-night host who’s a fellow adversary of the Trump administration. ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in September after Federal Communications Fee Chairman Brendan Carr criticized a controversial Kimmel joke about Trump’s response to the taking pictures of the outspoken conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Throughout Kimmel’s suspension from ABC, Swalwell wore a “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” hat whereas he peppered Carr with questions on freedom of speech and the politicization of the FCC, telling Carr to “get a lawyer.”
“The second late-night comedian has been taken off the air because the president did not like a joke,” Swalwell stated throughout a Home Judiciary assembly, referencing CBS’s plans to finish the Late Present with Stephen Colbert. “It should shake every American that the president is firing comedians who make fun of him.”
As a ballot final Friday advised Swalwell has a shot in a crowded gubernatorial area, Menlo Faculty political science professor Melissa Michelson outlined the congressman’s largest problem: identify recognition.
Michelson identified that Swalwell unseated the earlier incumbent of the fifteenth Congressional District, Pete Stark, in 2012, who had held the seat for 40 years prior. She added that Swalwell has “this track record of defying expectations and winning office where most people didn’t expect him to win… I wouldn’t dismiss Eric Swalwell’s chances.”
Different rivals, equivalent to Katie Porter, a former congresswoman who represented southern California’s forty seventh District, and Xavier Becerra, an lawyer and former U.S. secretary of well being and human providers, are two candidates that probably are extra recognizable than Swalwell, Michelson stated. She stated she’s “not sure Swalwell is one of those household names” in state politics but, however that he may additionally use that to his benefit to sway voters already set towards different candidates.
In some methods, the Trump administration helps Swalwell to get his identify on the market, after the Federal Housing Finance Company alleged the congressman had dedicated mortgage fraud this month, once more pitting him towards the president and his allies. And whereas billing himself as probably the most anti-Trump candidate shall be essential to California Democrats, Swalwell will want greater than that to win, Michelson stated.
“If you’ve heard anything about Swalwell these days, it’s because Trump is going after him,” Michelson stated. However, she added, “voters don’t just want opposition. They want politicians who care about them. They’re not just going to vote for you because you’re anti-Trump.”
