As the governor candidates for the state of California start to diminish, solidifying a spot as a reliable candidate is important. However, one prominent candidate had his chances extinguished and reputation blemished: Rep. Eric Swalwell, a former California congressman. After receiving more than four allegations of sexual assault and abuse from multiple women, Rep. Swalwell has denied all accusations. One allegation comes from an ex-staffer, who claims that one such incident took place in April of 2024 in New York and another in 2019. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are just some of the many agencies investigating Rep. Swalwell and the allegations that have come to light.

Because of these allegations, Rep. Swalwell felt increased pressure to drop out of the gubernatorial election. After losing key endorsements from various Democratic politicians, Rep. Swalwell decided to not only drop out of the election but also resign from Congress. Although he no longer holds any government office, Rep. Swalwell continues to defend himself from all allegations.

Still, politicians have called his actions and accusations very disturbing. Claremont High School freshman Alyssa Florio echoes this sentiment. “I think that, honestly, if no one realized what he was doing, that was the first mistake being made,” Florio said. “A man like that should never be close to [government] office in any sort of way. I believe that someone should have spoken out sooner—I know it must be hard to speak out, and that they might have something [preventing] them from speaking out, but they need to realize that it was a big deal for them to protect other women and get that man out as fast as possible.”

As Rep. Swalwell is still looked upon with disdain by his former partners, endorsements, as well as young voters; whether he is guilty of these allegations is still in the hands of the investigators.