Eric Swalwell Launches Bid for California Governor in 2026

Rep. Eric Swalwell, the scandal-plagued Democrat best known for pushing failed Trump investigations and getting cozy with a suspected Chinese spy, has officially announced his run for California governor in 2026.

The California congressman made his announcement Thursday night on none other than “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, using the late-night leftist platform to bash President Trump again instead of laying out real solutions for a state plagued by homelessness, crime, and soaring costs.

“He’s going to hate tonight’s episode,” Swalwell bragged on X, in response to a Trump post slamming Kimmel as “biased” and “talentless.”

Swalwell’s platform? Not public safety, not fixing the failing education system, and certainly not addressing the mass exodus of working families and businesses from California. Instead, he offered this: “One, keep Trump out of our homes, streets and lives,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. His second objective? To “write the story of a new California” vague rhetoric that says little about how he plans to reverse the state’s well-documented decline under Democrat rule.

Swalwell’s campaign slogan might as well be “Trump Derangement Syndrome 2026.”

Despite his grandstanding, Californians know the truth:

• More than 800,000 people have left California in just three years, fleeing crime, taxes, and dysfunction.

• Violent crime has surged, with thefts and property crimes making national headlines as DAs refuse to prosecute.

• Homelessness is up 23% since 2020, with entire neighborhoods turned into tent cities.

Swalwell’s answer? Ban Trump. Again.

The congressman tried to give himself a moderate makeover, telling leftist site MediasTouch that he’s “the son of two Republicans” and a former prosecutor. But voters remember his record: Swalwell spent years peddling the Russia hoax, sitting on endless House investigations, and promoting policies that enabled California’s slide into chaos all while reportedly having ties to a Chinese spy named Fang Fang that the media has largely ignored.

He’s now running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom another Democrat with national ambitions after the 2026 election. But Swalwell isn’t alone in the race. The Democratic field includes Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, and billionaire activist Tom Steyer, while Republicans are coalescing around Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

Newsom, who’s term-limited, is rumored to be a top contender for the 2028 presidential race, assuming Joe Biden makes it that long.

Swalwell may think this is his moment to rise. But the reality is simple: he’s a career politician more obsessed with Trump than with fixing the disaster that is modern-day California.

If voters want more censorship, more failed prosecutions, more anti-police rhetoric, and more Twitter battles, Swalwell’s their guy. If they want a functioning state, they’ll look elsewhere.

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