By Anabel Sosa, Senior California politics reporter April 13, 2026 (SFGate.com)
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Bay Area congressman, is officially resigning from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct and assault.
The news broke Friday afternoon that Swalwell, a Democrat who was also a leading candidate for governor of California, had allegedly sexually assaulted one of his former congressional staffers. Three other women also spoke out with their own accounts of Swalwell’s alleged sexual misconduct. Gubernatorial candidates immediately called on Swalwell to drop out of the already crowded race, and members of Congress called on him to resign.
Swalwell immediately responded to those allegations, denying all of them. His lawyer, Elias Dabaie, also sent cease-and-desist letters to some of the women for “false statements accusing Mr. Swalwell of sexual assault and nonconsensual sexual encounters,” as shared on X by Gen-Z for Change Executive Director Cheyenne Hunt, a lawyer and former congressional candidate.
On Sunday, Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race, and on Monday, after calls for his resignation from Democrats and Republicans, Swalwell decided to step down.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” he wrote Monday afternoon on X.
In his short, three-paragraph resignation statement, Swalwell also said that he was aware of the effort to “bring an immediate expulsion vote” against him. He said he believes that expelling anyone from Congress without due process “within days of an allegation being made is wrong” but he also said it was unfair to his constituents for him to be so distracted.
He said he will work with his staff in the coming days to ensure the needs of the constituents of the 14th Congressional District in the East Bay, which includes Dublin, Fremont and Pleasanton, are met.
It’s unclear whether a special election will be called to replace Swalwell. The governor’s office has not responded to requests for comment.
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April 13, 2026
Senior California politics reporter
Anabel Sosa is the senior California politics reporter at SFGATE. She previously covered the statehouse and elections for the Los Angeles Times. She has a masters degree in investigative journalism from UC Berkeley. You can reach her at anabel.sosa@sfgate.com.
