CA-GOV: Katie Porter calls on Swalwell to resign from Congress

[RandySF]

Link to tweet

?s=20

Katie Porter
@katieporterca
In light of the allegations of sexual assault, Eric Swalwell should resign from Congress and end his campaign for public office. But those decisions do not absolve him of taking responsibility for his misconduct, especially when he has attempted to silence and retaliate against these victims.

These allegations merit full investigations, and these women deserve the right to pursue justice.

Too often, men escape any consequence for sexual misconduct by stepping out of power. That is a first and necessary step towards justice because it limits the ability for further harm. I stand with these women as they seek justice.

[PeaceWave]

1. Of course she did.

[ananda]

28. I just hope she and Becerra don't cancel each other out...

so that Steyer or a republican becomes governor.

...

[obamanut2012]

44. I am voting Steyer over her, 100%

I was all in on Swalwell, but he'll be forced to drop out now. No way I will vote for Porter, especially now.

[ananda]

52. OK. But...

What's wrong with Becerra?

[agingdem]

32. someone should tell shrill Katie..

Swalwell will decide...and here's the thing about Dems running for office...before they throw their hats in the ring they should clean up their messes...we live in a no-secrets digital world/the internet is forever...junk will always rise to the top...

as for the flatulent degenerate he-whore sleeping behind the Resolute Desk...he won because he wasn't a woman/a black woman...

[Rebl2]

79. She just

can’t get past it.

[Celerity]

3. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar

have officially called for him to immediately drop out of the CA Gov. race.

https://jeffries.house.gov/2026/04/10/house-democratic-leadership-statement-on-accusations-against-rep-eric-swalwell/

[travelingthrulife]

6. So we throw him out and then investigate. Got it.

[Celerity]

9. I was going to vote for him in the primary, but apparently there are pics, texts & a Dem staffer claiming he raped her

Full disclosure: he denies it all.

Exclusive: Four women describe sexual misconduct by Rep. Eric Swalwell, including a former staffer who says he raped her

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/10/us/eric-swalwell-sexual-misconduct-allegations-invs

[Wiz Imp]

31. If there are pictures and texts, they need to be released publicly.

Otherwise, it's just an unproven allegation.

[Celerity]

40. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi seems to have decided he needs to drop out:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/california-governor-democrats-swalwell-22200549.php

snip

No matter what type of defiant statement he makes about staying in the race, Swalwell’s days are numbered. As always, look to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for direction on where this story ends.

Pelosi never endorsed Swalwell, even though some of her most trusted lieutenants — like Sen. Adam Schiff — did. On Friday, Pelosi said in a statement that “the young woman who has made serious allegations against Congressman Swalwell must be respected and heard. This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability.”

On Friday afternoon, she said she called Swalwell and told him “it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign.”

Not too tough to translate the Pelosiese here: Get out.

snip

[Wiz Imp]

42. I'm not expressing an opinion either way on what Swallwell should do.

However, if explosive allegations are being supported based on alleged pictures and texts, that evidence needs to be presented publicly. People should not be convicted in the court of public opinion based solely on alleged evidence.

[hedda_foil]

57. The images are dick pics, apparently. Do you really NEED to see?

[Wiz Imp]

61. It should be totally expected to require PROOF that alleged evidence exists.

Why wouldn't the text messages be released if they prove the claims to be true?

[Cherrycheeks]

66. Yep..

😁

[Autumn]

71. Who does she have in mind to run for Governor ?

How about we fucking find out what the truth is before we pull this bullshit.

[MichMan]

78. I'm guessing herself?

[PeaceWave]

75. Agreed.

[Trueblue1968]

56. Invesigate now, drop out if true. Innocent till proved guilty.

[LeftInTX]

15. Dropping out of the race and resigning from Congress are two different things.

[Celerity]

18. Yes, the last time I checked they are indeed not the same thing.

[leftstreet]

4. Good Gawdz. She needs better comms people

[bucolic_frolic]

5. She convicted him already?

I think Al Franken got more of a grace window.

[RandySF]

7. I'm getting the vibe that his colleagues didn't like him to begin with.

[YodaMom2]

8. Yeah,

they seem almost eager to toss him overboard. And what’s been coming out about him in the course of the CA gubernatorial race…well, if true, reveals to me that my opinion of him was based on style, not substance.

[RandySF]

10. I was going to vote for him because Schiff endorsed him.

[YodaMom2]

14. I was going to vote for him, too.

Katie Porter’s got anger management issues, and Tom Steyer is another billionaire trying to buy political office. Now, well …maybe I need to take another look at Beccerra, or the San Jose mayor.

[Celerity]

21. Do you feel the same about JB Pritzker? He is a billionaire who used his money to help gain elective office.

(And like Steyer he failed the first time).

[YodaMom2]

25. Actually, no.

Pritzger has proven himself in elective office over time. He’s walked the walk. Steyer is Jill Stein-esque - he just seems to show up when there’s a vacancy in a high office.

[Celerity]

27. Pritzker was never in elective office until he won the IL Governor race in 2018. That is how he got a chance to 'prove

himself in elective office'.

He spent $223 million (inflation-adjusted to 2026 dollars from 2018 dollars) of his own money in just that one election.

[YodaMom2]

49. Valid point.

I’m not familiar enough with Illinois politics to know, but was Pritzger at all involved in state or local politics, in grassroots organizing or social justice activities (for example), prior to running for office? Or did he just go directly from the boardroom to buying elective office? It does seem he’s done good while in office, but was he present for the hard work before running for governor?

[Celerity]

54. He ran for the US House in 1998 and lost, and then this timeline happened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JB_Pritzker#State_and_national_politics

State and national politics

Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Pritzker to chair the Illinois Human Rights Commission. He held that position from 2003 to 2006. After Pritzker left the chairmanship, Blagojevich appointed former White House counsel and federal judge Abner J. Mikva to succeed him. In the 2008 presidential election, Pritzker served as national co-chair of Hillary Clinton's campaign. He was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention and the 2016 Democratic National Convention. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 general election and helped merge the Clinton and Obama campaigns in Illinois.

In May 2017, the Chicago Tribune published an 11-minute FBI wiretap of Pritzker and Blagojevich in 2008 discussing campaign contributions and options for Pritzker to be appointed to statewide office. At the time, Pritzker was described as a "businessman with political ambitions". On the tapes, Blagojevich asked Pritzker if he would like to be appointed state treasurer, to which Pritzker, who has a background in finance, responded, "Yeah, that's the one I would want." Pritzker's general election opponent Governor Bruce Rauner and Pritzker's Democratic primary opponents took issue with his conduct.

Pritzker responded to the allegations: "I've not been accused of any wrongdoing. I have not done anything wrong." Law enforcement made no allegations of wrongdoing against Pritzker, and he has said: "over decades of my life, I have been doing public service, and the opportunity to continue to do public service as treasurer of the state was something that had been brought up, and so there was a conversation about that."

Pritzker later apologized for a number of controversial and incendiary comments he made in that conversation. He and Blagojevich discussed filling Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat, with Pritzker saying that appointing then-Secretary of State Jesse White would "cover you on the African-American thing" and that he was the "least offensive" Black candidate. After the tape was released, White continued to support Pritzker in his 2018 gubernatorial campaign and accepted his apology, saying he knew "where his heart is" and "I consider him a very good friend".

snip


there also is this (from before all that is discussed above):

Work as D.C. staffer

In the 1980s, Pritzker served on the legislative staffs of U.S. representative Tom Lantos, U.S. senator Terry Sanford, and U.S. senator Alan J. Dixon, making trade and transportation issues a top priority. After his career in Washington, D.C., Pritzker founded Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, a national organization dedicated to attracting voters under 40 to the Democratic Party.

[Celerity]

17. I was going to vote for Swalwell because Porter lacks the temperament to be governor IMHO, and I didn't want to vote for

Steyer over Swalwell.

I will now vote for Steyer as I do not want to vote for Matt Mahan nor Xavier Becerra over Steyer.

[Sympthsical]

41. Can I ask about Becerra?

We're pretty close in opinion about Porter, but I haven't really heard anything pro nor con about Becerra that moves me either way. I was planning to read a bit more this weekend. Since I respect your opinion, I'm curious what rules him out for you.

[Celerity]

46. He has never gained any traction in the polls. He and other low low pollers need to drop out as they dilute the Dem

Last edited Sat Apr 11, 2026, 02:15 PM - Edit history (1)

vote enough that there is a (granted, small) chance that with our stupid (I hate it) jungle primary system, that we end up with 2 Rethugs in the general.

Swalwell going down hopefully reduces that '2 Rethugs 1 Cup' nightmare.

I have zero problems with Becerra as our US Senator. I am just trying to be pragmatic.

IF Beccera was in the top 2 or 3 in terms of support, I would vote for him over all the rest, but alas, he is not (atm) nowhere near that level.

I REALLY wanted Kamala Harris to run for CA Gov.

2 birds, 1 stone.

She would have won it in a cakewalk, AND she then would not run again for POTUS in 2028. She likely will now run for POTUS in 2028, and it will, IMHO, set up the possibility of 1, or 2 bad, bad things to happen. The 2nd bad thing has 2 bad ways it could go.

1. IF she runs for POTUS in 2028, and her KHIVE crew goes scorched earth, the Dem primary could turn into a true shitshow.

2 A. If she loses the primary yet her campaign went scorched earth, that is going to hurt party unity and quite possibly turnout in the general.

2 B. She wins the Dem primary, and then, due to racism and misogyny, we lose the 3rd POTUS election out of the last 4, with all 3 being Dem women, and 2 of the 3 being a PoC.

[moonscape]

58. Yeah, I was really disappointed

she didn’t enter gov race. I so wanted to vote for her. She would be an amazing gov

[shanti]

60. Has Schiff

made any remarks about this?

[RandySF]

63. Yep

He withdrew that endorsement.

[EdmondDantes_]

22. Groping isn't as bad as rape

And given the rape victim has people she told at the time, plus texts from Swalwell, and test results, it's pretty damning.

Also Franken's accusers came out over multiple weeks not one big investigation.

[republianmushroom]

11. Kathy, so far, they are only that ' allegations '.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. When this many people act this quickly, it's generally a pretty damning sign. People have had suspicions or knowledge

for quite some time, and as often happens, it takes a critical mass before they act.

[Keepthesoulalive]

16. Remember Tara Reid

And then the allegations about groping a child. The man deserves an unbiased investigation not cowardice. Republicans always play dirty tricks just before an election, sometimes they have help from so called Democrats.

[karynnj]

47. I remember Tara Reid and I remember the lie about Kerry

One BIG difference is the reaction of the people around those candidates, which was to say they did not believe it because it was completely out of character. In Kerry's case, the woman herself denied the story. A second difference is that there are now multiple women.

Another thing is that this doesn't have a clear advantage for the Republicans. There were two other candidates essentially tied with him and eliminating anyone of the three made the two Republican scenario less likely.

The speed which with his peers abandoned him suggests that they at least thought it possible. Back when the Tara Reid stuff happened, a staffer for someone else that I slightly knew through others, commented that the staffers knew " which legislators not to get into an empty elevator with ... and Biden was not one of them

[Keepthesoulalive]

59. There were many here

That said believe the victim. They didn’t care for Biden and any lie would suffice. I know the dirty tricks republicans play, they have tried it in Virginia and it hasn’t worked. I’m saying he has a right to attempt to repudiate and tell his side before we send him to the gallows.

[karynnj]

62. Completely agree

I do remember that some not liking Biden did believe Reid on DU. However, I heard to Senator, Congressman, fellow Obama cabinet member call for investigation or pull their support.

I agree that Swalwell will and should address the claims.

[PeaceWave]

80. I don't recall this story. What happened?

[republianmushroom]

24. Or, possibly sour grapes.

[Scrivener7]

13. She would do better for herself to stay out of this. He'll go, and she'll benefit.

[Kid Berwyn]

19. Katie's friend leading the charge against Swalwell?

Cheyenne Hunt, Esq

[pinkstarburst]

20. Porter should not be weighing in

She is not a neutral or uninvolved party in all this, and is the person who stands to benefit most from Swalwell being taken out of the race.

If the allegations are proven correct, he should of course resign and should drop out of the race. But after what happened to Al Franken, there should not be calls for this to happen literally hours after a CNN article, especially knowing that the media is now mostly owned by republicans, and without proof.

[themaguffin]

23. I don't understand why she didn't/doesn't let others take the lead on this. It was already happening.

I like her. She did some great stuff in the House and offers a lot, but this seems like a moment where you let things play out.

[Mz Pip]

33. This

She didn’t need to inject herself into this mess. Smacks of opportunism.

[obamanut2012]

45. She is friends wirh the influencer who broke this

[JoseBalow]

26. Oh Katie, never change

[Deep State Witch]

30. Crap

I thought that he was one of the good guys.

[Mz Pip]

34. He was

Until he wasn’t. He let everyone down, not just himself.

[Wiz Imp]

35. I like Porter, but this is ridiculous.

In light of the allegations of sexual assault, Eric Swalwell should resign from Congress and end his campaign for public office

These allegations merit full investigations

So he should resign and end his campaign before there are full investigations? What happens if the full investigation found the allegations to be unfounded? (Note: I'm not saying I believe the allegations are unfounded. I have no opinion either way at this point, just that it is outrageous to demand resignation and withdrawal based solely on allegations which haven't been fully investigated yet.)

[LisaL]

36. I agree.

He isn't charged with anything either.

[pinkstarburst]

50. I mean, it hasn't even been 24 hours yet

If the allegations have merit, absolutely he should drop out and resign. But it's also dangerous to have everyone jumping on the "you must resign" bandwagon so fast before there is investigation and evidence, especially when Republicans now control such a huge percentage of the media, and are funded by the billionaire oligarchs.

These allegations may absolutely be true and I am not saying they are not. But it would be absolutely in the Repub playbook to wait until the 2028 primary see who the democratic frontrunner is, and leak false allegations right before voting starts. Could they be using the CA governor's election as a test case? I have no idea. I probably read too many conspiracy novels, and the allegations may have merit and we may learn of the evidence in the coming days. But for this reason (and also due to what happened with Al Franken), it's important to not just jump straight to "resign now" but actually get investigation and evidence, which could take days or weeks.

[JBTaurus83]

37. It seems the Dems have found a way

To totally rat fuck themselves out of control in CA. I don’t say this as a pro or anti-Swalwell post. It just seems this entire campaign for governor has been one disaster after the next.

[Baitball Blogger]

38. Yeah, because when the world is about to be pulled into WWIII, there's no better

time to shoot yourself in the face.

Katie, Katie. Why couldn't you just show a little patience. Why are Democrats always so quick to dig that saber of justice and morality into their own hearts. That would be some twist on a battle scene, where one side keeps taking their own soldiers down because they wore their service ribbons on backwards.

[obamanut2012]

43. Of course she did

Her career in CA is done over her fingers in this

[aeromanKC]

51. In light of the allegations of her staff involvement, Katie Porter should end her campaign for govornor.

[The Madcap]

53. Not hearing many Rs telling him to quit...

Harassment, etc., is a part of their way of life. Why the double standard?

I'm not saying he shouldn't drop out, but both parties need to be using the same rulebook on this sort of thing. After all, T**** "can do whatever he wants..."

I guess Swalwell isn't a star.

[Vinca]

55. I hope all Democrats demanding he resign before he has his day in court will also demand Trump resign.

The allegations against Trump make Swalwell look like a piker. Right now, there's an attorney who wants to depose Trump about the 13-year-old girl incident.

[Sympthsical]

64. And this right here is why I don't support her in the primary

I keep trying to articulate what I mean about her disposition being unsuited for an executive role, but here it is. I do not want a governor this lacking in self-awareness.

Incredibly poor political instincts out of brazen self-interest is a nonstarter. Even if disliked Swalwell - which I very much do - this behavior does not even slightly endear me to her cause.

And I'm a progressive. My vote should be an easy lay-up. But she keeps coming out and advertising that she's that toxic ex co-worker you never wanted to be around.

It's a shame.

[ColoringFool]

65. I'm Shocked. SHOCKED.

[MustLoveBeagles]

67. This is premature

I don't have enough information about this to say whether he should resign or not. He should drop out of the Governors race. He has no chance now.

[Autumn]

70. Don't know anything but yeah, get rid of a Dem.

Why the fuck should he step down for a fucking allegations.

What bullshit.

[duckworth969]

72. Close your mouth Katie

Your motives are more than suspect.

Let the situation play out without your input please.

[Nixie]

76. She was this ridiculous about Schiff when they were running for the Senate.

She is not well suited for politics.

[RockRaven]

77. This episode is moving my opinion of her in the same direction as it is my opinion of him.

If everyone could agree on one of the nonbillionaire, nonRepug, non former House Rep candidates to rally behind and let me know who that is, that would be great.