Swalwell ends gubernatorial bid. On Sunday, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D–Calif.) ended his campaign to be governor of California after a former staffer and other women accused him of rape and other sexual misconduct.
In a statement posted on X, Swalwell apologized for “mistakes in judgement” he had made while also saying he would defend himself from the “serious, false accusations” that had been made.
I am suspending my campaign for Governor.
To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.
I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) April 13, 2026
Swalwell’s former rivals in the governor’s race have called on him to resign from the House as well, as have a number of his colleagues in Congress. Prosecutors in New York City have opened an investigation into one of the assault allegations against Swalwell.
The speed of Swalwell’s political collapse is remarkable.
The Reason Roundup Newsletter by Liz Wolfe Liz and Reason help you make sense of the day’s news every morning.
Just a few days ago, the progressive Democrat and cable news mainstay was considered a top contender in California’s crowded gubernatorial primary.
On Friday, The San Francisco Chronicle reported an unnamed ex-staffer’s allegation that Swalwell had twice sexually assaulted her, once in 2019, when she was employed in one of his district offices, and again in 2024, after she’d left his employ.
The Chronicle reports that it reviewed texts the woman sent within a few days of the second alleged incident.
The same day the Chronicle story ran, CNN reported the same woman’s account as well as those of three additional anonymous women, who accused the congressman of sexual assault and sending them sexually explicit messages.
You don’t have to be an extreme cynic to see political machinations behind these accusations surfacing now, a month and a half before California’s nonpartisan primary. But conveniently timed allegations can obviously be true as well.
No one should be sad to see Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid implode.
California is a state with serious problems, from an overbearing, overly expensive state government to population loss to the country’s worst housing crisis. The state’s voters could use a governor who is seriously invested in fixing these problems even if it means bucking progressive orthodoxy.
Swalwell does not fit that bill at all. As The New York Times notes in its postmortem on his gubernatorial bid, Swalwell’s chief qualification for running the government of the country’s largest state is that he criticized the president on TV a lot.
For all its self-inflicted wounds, California deserves a better governor than a cable pundit who happens to also have a congressional seat.
Blockade begins. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. will begin blockading Iranian ports following the failure over the weekend of peace talks in Pakistan. In a Truth Social post, the president said the blockade will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Iranian government has vowed retaliatory strikes against other ports in the region, with state media declaring that “NO PORT in the region will be safe”, per the Associated Press.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance met with Iranian negotiators in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the weekend, but that meeting failed to produce an agreement.
Oil prices, which had fallen during the very brief ceasefire last week, have started to climb again.
Scenes from D.C.: The National Guard deployments to Washington, D.C., continue, much to the apparent joy of the region’s chief public transit agency.
Late night check in & appreciate how our @wmata team & @DCGuard1802 have built a positive relationship during their shifts. Our station manager was so happy to get a challenge coin from General Blanchard who was out personally checking in on his team.
People supporting people. pic.twitter.com/o9wkZWoqbS
— Randy Clarke (@wmataGM) April 13, 2026
- Pope Leo XIV says he has “no fear” of the Trump administration after the U.S. president lashed out at the pontiff, calling him “weak on crime.”
- Longtime Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has suffered a landslide electoral defeat.
- New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he’ll open a city-owned grocery store in East Harlem by the end of his first term.
- Another U.S. strike on a drug boat in the Pacific kills five people.
- A quarter of private colleges are at risk of closing.
