Eric Swalwell’s campaign for governor had a very good weekend — by both normal political standards and Trump-era ones.
On Sunday, he scooped up the endorsement of the powerful California Teachers Association, the last major labor prize the gubernatorial candidates had been jockeying for. Organized labor — like Democrats as a whole — has struggled to rally behind a single candidate. But with the support of CTA, along with SEIU’s state council, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the statewide firefighters union, Swalwell has locked down some of the biggest heavyweights.
The nod from the teachers came on the heels of a bombshell story by The Washington Post that FBI Director Kash Patel is pushing to release a decade-old case file pertaining to Swalwell’s links to a suspected Chinese intelligence operative. The investigation did not lead to any criminal charges, and a House Ethics probe was closed by Republican committee leaders in 2023 with no action.
This, if true, would be another norm-shattering move by the Trump administration. Releasing such material five weeks before ballots drop would, at the very least, appear to be an effort to influence the California governor’s race. A spokesperson for the FBI disputed the contentions in the Post story; Playbook’s requests for comment went unanswered.
Swalwell, in an interview with Playbook, had plenty of harsh words for the Trump administration — but he didn’t sound all that mad. Sure, the report raises fresh concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department and the president’s retribution campaign against his enemies. But it also hands Swalwell a fight he relishes, elevating him as a leading opponent to Trump.
“I believe [it] shows what has been, in part, the reason I’m running, which is: I’ve been in the arena. I’ve taken on this guy. It’s come with a cost, but it’s not going to stop me,” he said.
In a state where the president is broadly unpopular, that’s a politically desirable position to be in. Just ask Gavin Newsom.
Swalwell wouldn’t go so far to say the report is a boon to his campaign (though plenty of pundits did it for him). But in a race where the top Democratic contenders have struggled to break out, an ongoing skirmish with Patel and Trump is one way he can distinguish himself from Tom Steyer and Katie Porter.
“It validates and reinforces that we are the biggest threat to Trump in the field, the only name he knows, the only person he attacks,” he said.
But don’t call Swalwell the favorite just yet (though he’s certainly claiming that titlefor himself). Polling has consistently shown that Democratic voters have not lined up en masse behind a candidate, which is why the party is now openly panicking that two Republicans may end up advancing from June’s top-two primary.
The governor’s race has yet to command Californians’ attention, and there’s no guarantee this new storyline will stay on their minds until they cast their votes. That may explain why Swalwell is kicking off the week in San Francisco this morning with a press conference. The topic: “Kash Patel’s weaponization of the FBI.”
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