Until I learned of the allegations against Eric Swalwell, I was one of dozens of interns on his campaign team.
Swalwell lost the trust of his staff, his supporters and, more broadly, many Democrats who believed in him. He may have handed Republicans an opening in a race Democrats should never have made competitive.
During my time on the campaign, I often felt underappreciated. At times, I felt less like a person than a number. The CADEM, or California Democratic Party, convention in February was the clearest example. The other candidates brought people who actually supported them. Swalwell brought 200 young people from across the state, many of them high school students from neighboring schools. It seemed inauthentic. Our game plan for the convention was not to persuade people to vote for Swalwell, but to be seen. And it worked. Most of us simply walked around in “Swalwell for Governor” shirts. After the convention, we had little actual work to do. The campaign seemed to have padded its numbers, created the appearance of momentum, and assumed victory would follow.
Though party insiders must have long known about Swalwell’s scandals, the Democratic Party was far from ready for the fallout from Swalwell’s campaign. All the Democrats in the gubernatorial race are flawed in their own ways. Tom Steyer is a billionaire who made fortune from ICE detention centers, Katie Porter is obnoxious and abusive to her staffers, and Xavier Becerra is extremely boring. That is why I will be voting for Matt Mahan, mayor of San Jose, for governor on June 2. A lifelong Democrat, I believe we need to get behind one candidate. It starts with winning back the trust of voters we may have left behind or lost.
We the Democratic Party should be the party of protecting women, not hurting them. We should be the party of trust, not lies. I think the Democratic Party needs to focus on TDS — not Trump Derangement Syndrome, but transparency, delivering results and staying grounded locally. Candidates need to be upfront and take accountability for past mistakes, and they need to deliver results. Whether it is infrastructure, housing or the cost of living, they must make changes voters can see. Most importantly, they need to go to places Democrats have long forgotten in California, including Northern California and the Central Valley. Rebuilding trust starts with these ideas, then expanding on them.
Swalwell did more harm than good with his nonapology. He said he was sorry for past mistakes, then said he did not sexually assault women. We need the next generation of Democratic leaders: candidates who understand that California is the best state in the nation, but also understand the work ahead. We need someone young who offers something different from the other candidates. Swalwell had been getting away with his abuse of power since the first time he sexually assaulted people; that much is clear. He thought he could get away with it because he had so much power attached to his name. I give credit to the Democratic Party for immediately condemning his actions and his campaign. However, the candidates for governor this year are far from exciting, putting Democrats in a familiar bind: voting for the lesser of two evils. We hear it every election. But in this race, if Democrats cannot get behind one candidate, we risk a low-turnout primary.
California Democrats are now dealing with the consequences of Swalwell’s campaign collapse. The party has only a narrow window to rebuild trust before the primary. Strategy cannot simply be damage control. Democrats need to galvanize voters, especially on Election Day, and prove that the party still knows how to earn support rather than assume it.
