Where Swalwell’s exit leaves the California governor’s race
4/15/202621 min
A crowded governor’s race in California got a little less crowded when Democrat Eric Swalwell ended his campaign — and resigned his seat in Congress — following allegations of sexual misconduct. We discuss where Swalwell’s exit leaves the race and how President Trump’s endorsement of a Republican candidate might be a boon to the Democrats running.
This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, KQED correspondent Guy Marzorati, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.
This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Miles Parks· Host0:17
[upbeat music] Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Miles Parks. I cover voting.
Domenico Montanaro· Co-host0:26
And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.
Miles Parks· Host0:29
And we also have KQED's Guy Marzorati joining us today. Hi, Guy.
Guy Marzorati· Guest0:33
Hey, great to be with you all.
Miles Parks· Host0:34
Yeah, great to have you back. Today on the show, we are talking about the race for governor in America's most populous state, California. And Guy, this is a race that looks very different than it did just a few days ago after now former Democratic congressman, Eric Swalwell, dropped out of the race over the weekend. Can you get us up to speed on the allegations that led him to make that decision?
Guy Marzorati· Guest0:55
Yeah. So these were allegations reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN, uh, that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a former staff member on multiple occasions. Also had other allegations of sexual misconduct against staff. And it did play out really quickly. You know, these reports came out on Friday. By Sunday, Swalwell had dropped out of the governor's race in which he was a, a Democratic front runner, and then resigned his East Bay House seat, uh, this week.
Miles Parks· Host1:24
Yeah, and we should note that Swalwell has denied the allegations of misconduct and assault,