Democratic lawmakers are calling for fellow House Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to resign, and some have gone as far as saying they would vote to expel Swalwell from Congress.
Swalwell, a California Democrat, has been accused of sexual misconduct.
Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Eugene Vindman of Virginia have said Swalwell should resign from office.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Jared Huffman of California, and Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico have indicated that Swalwell should resign, but if he does not, they would vote to boot him from Congress.
With Rep. Eric Swalwell exiting the California gubernatorial race, the battle to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom becomes even more uncertain and turbulent ahead of the early June primary.
Public opinion surveys indicated that Swalwell was the top polling Democrat in the race, ahead of former Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire Tom Steyer, who’s flooded the airwaves with ads since declaring his candidacy in November. Both Porter and Steyer on Friday had called on Swalwell to suspend his gubernatorial campaign and resign from Congress.
The crowded field of Democrats also includes former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
There are two major Republicans in the race: conservative commentator and former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton last weekend, which appears to be boosting his support. But Trump’s backing wasn’t enough to put Hilton over the top this weekend at the California GOP annual convention. Neither Hilton nor Bianco was able to top the 60% support of delegates threshold needed to earn the state party’s endorsement.
Democrats and Republicans appear on the same ballot in the June 2 primary, with the top two finishers advancing to November’s general election. Early voting in the primary begins on May 4.
Former Republican National Committee chair and current GOP North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley indicated that Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell should be expelled from Congress.
"Yes, he absolutely should," Whatley said during an appearance on "Fox & Friends First" when asked whether the House lawmaker should be expelled from office.
Whatley suggested that "from crime and illegal aliens to national security and impeaching the president, doing everything he can to fight President Trump's America First Agenda," the House Democrat is the "face" of his party and "has no place in Congress at all"
Swalwell, who has faced sexual misconduct allegations, announced on Sunday that he was suspending his California gubernatorial campaign.
{{#rendered}}Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California announced on Sunday night that he was suspending his Golden State gubernatorial bid.
The lawmaker's race for the governorship has recently been roiled by sexual misconduct allegations.
"I am suspending my campaign for Governor. To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past," Swalwell wrote in the Sunday night post on X.
"I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s," he added.
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