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Rep. Eric Swalwell formally jumped into the 2026 California gubernatorial scramble this week, announcing his campaign on a late-night appearance with Jimmy Kimmel and telling voters he’ll be a “fighter and protector” for the state. Californians deserve to know the exact moment their next governor decided to court celebrity applause instead of quietly building a record of results — Swalwell made that choice loud and clear.
Swalwell has been a national-media fixture for years, first winning his House seat in 2012 and later parlaying his national profile into work as a prominent anti-Trump prosecutor in Congress and a 2020 presidential bid. That résumé reads less like a record of practical problem-solving and more like a career built on confrontation and headlines, which is exactly what he emphasized in his announcement.
He’s entering an already crowded field of Democrats — from billionaire Tom Steyer to former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Rep. Katie Porter, and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra — all vying to replace the term-limited Gavin Newsom in an all-party primary next June. Californians face real, solvable problems and yet the left keeps producing candidates who want to nationalize every race and weaponize state government as a cultural battleground.
Choosing a late-night stage to launch a campaign is emblematic of the modern Democrat playbook: optics over outcomes, theatrical anger over measurable fixes. Voters worried about crime, homelessness, rising costs, and failing schools shouldn’t be soothed by snappy one-liners from a TV studio; they need leaders who will put boots on the ground and common-sense policies ahead of partisan theater.
Compounding Swalwell’s gamble is the legal cloud that has followed him — recent reporting shows a federal referral over mortgage-related questions, an allegation Swalwell has called politically motivated but one that still raises unavoidable questions for a candidate claiming to be a steward of public trust. California voters shouldn’t be asked to hand the keys to the state to someone while credible questions about his finances and judgment linger.
Swalwell’s campaign theme — that he alone will stand between California and the influence of Donald Trump — reveals the Democrats’ real priority: keep national Republican enemies at bay rather than fix the day-to-day realities for working families. That nationalization gambit might play to coastal donors and late-night hosts, but it won’t feed a family paying skyrocketing rent or make neighborhoods safer from fentanyl and violent crime.
Conservatives in California and across the country should meet this moment with clarity and mobilization: focus on bread-and-butter issues that matter to voters, expose the media stunts, and remind Californians that governance requires competence more than clout. If Swalwell wants to turn the governor’s office into another stage for partisan warfare, hardworking Americans must make sure the ballot box turns it back into an office of results.
