Eric Swalwell's seat in Congress, which he officially vacated on Tuesday, will remain empty until late summer, and now a special election date has been set.
Governor Gavin Newsom wasted no time in announcing a special election to replace Rep. Eric Swalwell, and late Tuesday he announced that the election will occur on August 18. As the Chronicle reports, Swalwell's resignation, which became official at 2 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, came too late for the election to be consolidated into the June 2 primary.
Swalwell's current term ends in January, though, and candidates are already running in the primary to replace him — Swalwell had essentially given up his seat already in order to run for governor, with state law prohibiting running for two offices at once.
State Senator Aisha Wahab, former Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez and San Leandro City Councilmember Victor Aguilar Jr. are all running in the primary for the congressional seat, and will therefore likely be in line for the August special election as well. And whoever wins the August election will obviously get a leg up in the November election, and will head to the US House of Representatives to finish out the last five months of Swalwell's current term.
Other names may emerge in the coming weeks, as well.
Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress on Monday following the Friday publication of allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer from his Castro Valley office. While he denies the allegations, he was facing an expulsion proceeding in the House, and he had already suspended his campaign for governor on Sunday.
Within hours of his making his departure official on Tuesday, a second woman from Los Angeles came forward with a story of being drugged and raped by Swalwell in 2018. This was one year prior to the first of two incidents described by the former staffer, while Swalwell's wife was reportedly pregnant.
The woman, Lonna Drewes, further alleges that Swalwell choked her to the point of unconsciousness.
Three additional women have come forward in recent days with their own accusations of misconduct against Swalwell, including one who said she woke up in a hotel bed without a memory of what had occurred the night before.
Prior to the second woman coming forward with an assault allegation, Swalwell said in a Monday statement, "I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make."
He also said that the effort to expel him from Congress "without due process" was "wrong." "But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties," he wrote.
Swalwell is now facing potential charges for sexual assault in Alameda County, in Los Angeles County, and in Manhattan.
Previously: Eric Swalwell Could Now Face Rape Charge In Los Angeles as New Accuser Comes Forward
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