2020 elections Eric Swalwell ends White House bid, citing low polling, fundraising

DUBLIN, Calif. — California Rep. Eric Swalwell, dogged by fundraising challenges and a failure to register in the polls, is ending his long-shot bid for the presidency.

Two weeks ago, Swalwell, 38, called on Democratic front-runner Joe Biden to "pass the torch" of party leadership to a new generation in the first Democratic presidential debates. But on Monday, Swalwell called a news conference at his Dublin campaign headquarters to announce that instead of continuing in the Democratic primary, he will instead seek a fifth term representing the strongly Democratic East Bay 15th District in Congress.


“Being honest with ourselves, we had to look at how much money we were raising, where we were in the polls," Swalwell told supporters, arguing that he had "moved the needle on the debate stage with an issue I was very passionate about," referring to gun control measures. “So we’ve achieved that,’’ he said. “But we have to be honest about our own candidacy’s viability."

Swalwell’s decision to bow out comes as another Californian, billionaire activist Tom Steyer — who had earlier ruled out a run for the White House — prepared to announce his entry into the race, POLITICO reported Monday.

The California congressman — who had previously told several area Democratic clubs that he would not seek reelection to the House — is facing a primary challenge from Hayward Councilmember Aisha Wahab, who has already been endorsed by an array of local and state elected officials. Wahab has taken a page from Swalwell’s playbook by presenting herself as a face of change in the district.

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Though Swalwell hails from one of California’s most liberal districts, he drew on his ties to Iowa, where he was born and lived until age 5 — and where his father served as police chief of Algona — in his campaign. Swalwell made more than two dozen trips to the state, where he reminded voters of his birth in Sac City, and where he frequently touted his marriage to Brittany Watts — a Hoosier and the mother of their two young children — as evidence that “I’ve lived a life very much like yours.”

The East Bay congressman, who sits on the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, also made gun control a focus of his campaign. But in more than a dozen national polls tracking the Democratic presidential field, Swalwell’s campaign failed to even register 1 percent among likely voters. And while Swalwell did demonstrate some fundraising prowess, pulling more than $1 million into his congressional committee in the first quarter of 2019, his presidential campaign has not yet posted any donation totals.

Swalwell announced his presidential candidacy in April on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ and followed that up with an ambitious schedule of campaign events in Florida, Iowa, South Carolina, California, Nevada and New Hampshire.

Attempting to distinguish himself in a field of nearly two dozen Democratic hopefuls, Swalwell made his campaign a call for a new generation of leadership in the Democratic party, urging that Democrats go “big and bold’’ in their choice to beat Donald Trump in 2020.

But his message was largely obscured as he became the second-youngest candidate for the White House in a crowded Democratic field when South Bend (Ind.) Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 37, entered the race and emerged as a fundraising force and a rising star.

Swalwell said he is "not going to make any decisions right now" about which candidate to endorse in the race. “I really believe that the best matchup against Donald Trump is somebody who lives in the future, but is not going to ever stop thinking about the present.”

Swalwell added that “the polling wasn’t moving after the debates. … The donor number was going up, but it didn’t reach the point” where we could qualify for the September debates.” On fundraising, Swalwell said his final numbers will come out in a week, but that he thinks he raised “just under $850,000” in the campaign.

In the initial presidential debate Swalwell reminded viewers that Biden decades ago urged Democrats to “pass the torch” to younger leadership in the party. Biden, laughing, told Swalwell on stage that he is “still holding on” to that torch.

Claremont-McKenna College political analyst Jack Pitney contends that in the debate, Swalwell's "one moment in the spotlight was not flattering. That struck a sour note. ... That debate did not go well for him.”

But Swalwell’s quest “was always a long shot anyway,’’ Pitney said, “because nobody’s been elected to the presidency from the House since James Garfield’’ in 1831. “And outside of MSNBC viewers, nobody knew he was,’’ he said.

Democratic consultant Garry South said Swalwell’s attempts at generational appeal “could have had traction, but he was preempted by someone a year younger, Pete Buttigieg. He didn’t have that lane to himself.”

Many analysts are predicting a “big shrink” of the Democratic field.

The move “may break the dam,’’ said his campaign spokesman, Josh Richman.

Though Swalwell earlier this year promised to give up his House seat as he ran for president, he later walked back those comments. But his decision to pursue a White House bid still toppled some political dominoes in his Bay Area district, where the number of Democratic aspirants far outnumbers the available seats in Congress.

A Democratic state senator, Bob Wiecowski, declared his intent to seek Swalwell’s seat and then dropped out. Wahab has remained in the hunt even as Swalwell’s presidential push faltered, piling up a slate of endorsements.

Wahab even sought to turn one of Swalwell’s tactics against him, sending her supporters a post-debate email with the subject line “ready to carry the torch” and an admonition to chip in and “help Aisha grab the torch.” Wahab’s campaign did not answer questions about whether she intends to remain in the race. Last month, she told The Washington Post she would “reassess” if Swalwell ended his presidential bid.

Swalwell’s entry into politics earned him national attention in 2012, when — as an unknown Alameda County deputy district attorney — he shocked the California political establishment by disregarding the advice of party leaders and challenging 20-term Rep. Pete Stark.

Though Stark had been endorsed by Nancy Pelosi and other major party leaders, Swalwell — who had served one term on the Dublin City Council and was a former intern for the late Rep. Ellen Tauscher — became a beneficiary of California’s then-fledgling “top two” primary system, and handily beat Stark.

With his penchant for social media, Swalwell quickly became known as the “Snapchat king of Congress” — and made headlines for broadcasting from the House floor, via Periscope and Facebook Live, a congressional protest over gun violence in June 2016.

