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Eric Swalwell
Eric Swalwell 114th official photo.jpg
Official portrait, 2016
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded by Pete Stark (redistricting)
Constituency 15th district (2013–2023)
14th district (2023–present)
Member of the Dublin City Council
In office
December 7, 2010 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by Kate Ann Scholz
Succeeded by Abe Gupta
Personal details
Born
Eric Michael Swalwell

(1980-11-16) November 16, 1980 (age 43)
Sac City, Iowa, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse
Brittany Watts
(m. 2016)
Children 3
Education Campbell University
University of Maryland, College Park (BA)
University of Maryland, Baltimore (JD)
Website


Eric Michael Swalwell (/ˈswɑːlwɛl/ SWAHL-well; born November 16, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 14th congressional district since 2023. His district, numbered as the 15th district from 2013 to 2023, covers most of eastern Alameda County and part of central Contra Costa County. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Sac City, Iowa, Swalwell spent his childhood in Dublin, California. He was a first-generation college student, having briefly attended Campbell University on a soccer scholarship before earning degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. As a college student, Swalwell served as a student liaison to the College Park City Council and interned for Ellen Tauscher.

After college, Swalwell returned to California and worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. He was appointed to multiple municipal commissions in Dublin and later served two years on the Dublin City Council. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, defeating 40-year incumbent Pete Stark in an upset.

Swalwell has co-chaired the House Democratic Steering Committee since 2017. He was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries from April to July 2019 before dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden.

Early life and education

Swalwell was born on November 16, 1980, in Sac City, Iowa, the first of four sons of Eric Nelson Swalwell and Vicky Joe Swalwell, both of whom are Republicans; his father was then serving as police chief in Algona, Iowa. After leaving Iowa, the family eventually settled in Dublin, California. He graduated from Wells Middle School and then from Dublin High School in 1999. As a child, Swalwell suffered from Bell's palsy and worried the paralysis would never go away. To treat the condition, he had to wear an eyepatch.

Swalwell attended Campbell University in North Carolina on a soccer scholarship from 1999 to 2001. He broke both his thumbs in 2001, his sophomore year, ending the scholarship. Swalwell transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park, as a junior. In 2003, he completed his bachelor's degree in government and politics there. He enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Law and earned his Juris Doctor in 2006.

At the University of Maryland, Swalwell served as Vice President of Campus Affairs for the Student Government Association, and was an elected member of the Student-Faculty-Staff University Senate and of its executive committee. He was also an active member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, and served as a student liaison to the City Council of College Park; the latter appointment inspired other college towns to consider similar arrangements.

Early political career

In 2001 and 2002, Swalwell worked as an unpaid intern for U.S. representative Ellen Tauscher, who represented CA's 10th congressional district. He focused on legislative research and constituent outreach and services. The September 11 terrorist attacks occurred during his internship, inspiring him to public service. The attacks also inspired his first legislative achievement: using his Student Government Association position at the University of Maryland to create a public–private college scholarship program for students who lost parents in the attacks.

After graduating from law school, Swalwell returned to California and worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. He served on the Dublin Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission from 2006 to 2008 and on the Dublin Planning Commission from 2008 to 2010 before winning election to the Dublin City Council in 2010. While he was running for the U.S. Congress, an anonymous group attempted to recall Swalwell from the city council, but the effort was later abandoned.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012

Eric Swalwell at Capitol Hill
Representative Eric Swalwell on the Capitol Hill steps with friends, family, and campaign staff, 2013

In September 2011, Swalwell filed to run for Congress in California's 15th district. The district had previously been the 13th, represented by 20-term incumbent Democrat Pete Stark. Swalwell took a leave of absence from the Dublin City Council in order to run for the seat.

Swalwell was able to contest Stark only in the general election because of California's "top two" primary system put in place by Proposition 14. Under that system, the top two primary vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. In the June primary, Stark finished first with 41.8% of the vote, Swalwell placed second with 36%, and independent candidate Chris Pareja third with 22.2%.

In the November general election, the San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Swalwell. During the 2012 election cycle, the Stark campaign accused Swalwell of being a Tea Party candidate. The accusation was denied by Swalwell and dismissed by the San Jose Mercury News, which also endorsed Swalwell. Stark refused to debate Swalwell during the campaign. In response, Swalwell organized a mock debate with an actor playing Stark, quoting him verbatim when answering the moderator. Other campaign gimmicks included rubber ducks that stood in for rubber chickens and suggested that Stark was too "chicken" to debate. Stark pointed out that the ducks were made in China and criticized Swalwell for not "buying American".

Swalwell defeated Stark, 52.1% to 47.9%.

2014

Swalwell was challenged by Republican Hugh Bussell, a senior manager at Workday, Inc., and by Democratic State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett of Hayward. Corbett, placed third in June's primary, not earning enough votes to make the general election. Swalwell defeated Bussell in the November general election, 69.8% to 30.2%. He was sworn into his second term on January 3, 2015.

2016

Swalwell was challenged by Republican Danny Reid Turner of Livermore. He defeated Turner in the November general election, 73.8% to 26.2%. He was sworn into his third term on January 3, 2017.

2018

Swalwell was challenged by Republican Rudy Peters of Livermore. He defeated Peters in the November general election, 73.0% to 27.0%. He was sworn into his fourth term on January 3, 2019.

2020

Swallwell won the 2020 election against Republican challenger Alison Hayden, 70.9% to 29.1%.

Tenure

Swalwell is only the third person to represent his district and its predecessors since 1945. George P. Miller held the seat from 1945 to 1973; Stark won it after unseating Miller in the 1972 Democratic primary.

In his first term, Swalwell served on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He helped lead the fight against Transportation Security Administration administrator John S. Pistole's decision to lift the ban on pocketknives at airport security; the decision eventually was reversed.

Soon after taking office, Swalwell helped establish the United Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of freshman House members who met regularly to discuss areas of agreement.

On December 12, 2013, Swalwell introduced the Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act into the House. The bill allowed Americans to deduct from their 2013 taxes any charitable donations made between January 1 and April 15, 2014, for the relief of victims in the Republic of the Philippines of Typhoon Haiyan. The typhoon caused an estimated $1 billion in damage and killed thousands of people. Swalwell said, "Typhoon Haiyan devastated many parts of the Philippines and we should make it as easy as possible for Americans who want to assist those affected by the storm." Swalwell saw the bill as providing "another incentive for Americans to donate and donate now—when their help is needed most". On March 25, 2014, President Barack Obama signed this legislation into law.

By the end of his first term, Swalwell had gotten three bills through the House and two of them signed into law—more than any other freshman.

In 2014, Swalwell announced that he would serve as chairman of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's O' Say Can You See PAC's Young Professionals Leadership Circle due to his friendship with O'Malley. Although he made clear that his support was about the 2014 midterm elections and not an endorsement of a potential presidential bid by O'Malley in 2016, Swalwell endorsed O'Malley for president in July 2015.

During his second term, Swalwell served on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and as ranking member of its Central Intelligence Agency Subcommittee. He also retained his seat on the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Barack Obama meets with California Democratic Member of Congress Eric Swalwell, 2015
Swalwell meets with President Barack Obama on February 12, 2015.

In April 2015, Swalwell founded Future Forum, a group of young House Democrats focused on the concerns of millennials. A year later, Swalwell said that in the meetings the groups had held at places like college campuses and startups, participants had brought up student loan debt as their most pressing concern. At the time, Swalwell himself still carried almost $100,000 in debt from his undergraduate and law-school education.

In May 2015, Swalwell and Representative Darrell Issa launched the bipartisan Sharing Economy Caucus to explore how this burgeoning new economic sector can benefit more Americans.

In February 2016, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi elevated Swalwell to vice-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which sets the Democratic policy agenda and nominates Democratic members for committee assignments.

In December 2016, Swalwell was named the co-chair of House Democratic Steering Committee, replacing Donna Edwards and serving with Rosa DeLauro. He now co-chairs the committee with Barbara Lee and Cheri Bustos.

Swalwell also retained his seat on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence but left the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to serve on the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, and its Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, and Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.

In December 2016, Swalwell and Representative Elijah Cummings introduced the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which would create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate foreign interference in the 2016 election. They reintroduced the legislation for the 115th Congress in January 2017, but it failed to win any meaningful bipartisan support. The bill was widely seen as unnecessarily duplicative given the then ongoing Mueller special counsel investigation, as well as multiple existing committee investigations in Congress. Swalwell's bill attracted support along strictly partisan lines, except for two Republicans, and ultimately failed to reach a vote in the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He remained a constant presence on national news networks throughout 2017, voicing his views on the investigations.

Swalwell served as an impeachment manager (prosecutor) during President Trump's second impeachment trial.

In January 2023, Speaker Kevin McCarthy expelled Swalwell and Adam Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:

  • Committee on Homeland Security
    • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection
  • Committee on the Judiciary
    • Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement
    • Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight (Ranking Member)
    • Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust

Caucus memberships

  • House Democratic Steering Committee (co-chair)
  • American Sikh Congressional Caucus
  • Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
  • Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus
  • Blue Collar Caucus

2020 presidential campaign

Eric Swalwell (48016367867)
Eric Swalwell speaking to the California Democratic Party State Convention in June 2019
Swalwell for America
Eric Swalwell 2020 presidential campaign logo.svg
Campaign 2020 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries)
Candidate Eric Swalwell
U.S. Representative from California's 15th district (2013–present)
Affiliation Democratic Party
Announced April 8, 2019
Suspended July 8, 2019
Headquarters Dublin, California
Key people Ruben Gallego (campaign chair)
Lisa Tucker (chief strategist, campaign manager)
Garrick Delzell (chief operating officer)
Alex Evans (senior strategist)
Tim Sbranti (senior strategist)
Receipts US$2,602,439.44 (9-31-2019)

On April 8, 2019, Swalwell announced his candidacy for president on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also released a campaign ad announcing his campaign on his social media pages. Swalwell said that gun control would be the primary focus of his campaign. He made a formal announcement at Dublin High School on April 14, 2019.

Swalwell participated in one presidential debate. During the debate, he commented that he was six years old when Joe Biden spoke of passing the torch to a younger generation. Swalwell's polling average never rose above 1%. On July 8, 2019, he withdrew from the race. At the time, he was at risk of not qualifying for the second set of debates.

Political positions

Swalwell advocated the repeal of the No Child Left Behind Act, and increasing funding for education, while decreasing funding for defense. He also advocated creating renewable energy jobs with federal stimulus money. He said he would attempt to raise the cap on the Social Security payroll tax (which applies to annual earnings only up to $110,000 as of 2012), so that wealthier Americans would pay more into the program.

In March 2013, Swalwell led the writing of an open letter to John S. Pistole, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), opposing a new policy that would allow passengers to bring knives onto airplanes.

In 2022, Swalwell was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

Personal life

Swalwell and his first wife are divorced. He married his second wife, Brittany Ann Watts, a sales director at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, in October 2016. They have a son, born in 2017, and a daughter, born in 2018. A third child was born in 2021.

In 2020, Swalwell purchased a home for $1.2 million in Eckington, Washington, D.C.

Electoral history

2010 Dublin, California City Council elections
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Eric Swalwell 6,468 36.8
Nonpartisan Don Biddle (incumbent) 5,380 30.6
Nonpartisan Kate Ann Scholz (incumbent) 3,638 20.7
Nonpartisan Shawn Costello 1,993 11.3
Total votes 17,573 100.0
California's 15th congressional district election, 2012
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pete Stark (incumbent) 39,943 42.1
Democratic Eric Swalwell 34,347 36.0
No party preference Christopher "Chris" J. Pareja 20,618 21.7
Total votes 94,908 100.0
General election
Democratic Eric Swalwell 120,388 52.1
Democratic Pete Stark (incumbent) 110,646 47.9
Total votes 231,034 100.0
Democrat hold
United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Eric Swalwell (incumbent) 99,756 69.8
Republican Hugh Bussell 43,150 30.2
Total votes 142,906 100.0
United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Eric Swalwell (incumbent) 198,578 73.8
Republican Danny R. Turner 70,619 26.2
Total votes 269,197 100.0
United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Eric Swalwell (incumbent) 177,989 73.0
Republican Rudy L. Peters Jr. 65,940 27.0
Total votes 243,929 100.0
United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Eric Swalwell (incumbent) 242,991 70.9
Republican Alison Hayden 99,710 29.1
Total votes 342,701 100.0
United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Eric Swalwell (incumbent) 137,612 69.3
Republican Alison Hayden 60,852 30.7
Total votes 198,464 100.0

See also

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