UPDATED Rep. Eric Swalwell ends presidential campaign, will seek reelection to House

By Washington Post Staff July 8 at 4:11 PM

The California congressman, who made last month’s Democratic debate stage but has not registered over 1 percent in polling, says he is suspending his presidential bid. Swalwell will face a primary challenge in his bid for reelection to the House.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/07/08/rep-eric-swalwell-ends-presidential-campaign-will-seek-reelection-to-house/

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UPDATE:

Eric Swalwell ends White House bid, citing low polling, fundraising

By CARLA MARINUCCI and JEREMY B. WHITE 07/08/2019 04:20 PM EDT

DUBLIN, Calif. — California Rep. Eric Swalwell, dogged by fundraising challenges and a failure to register in the polls, is ending his longshot bid for the presidency.

Two weeks ago, Swalwell, 38, called on Democratic front-runner Joe Biden to "pass the torch" of party leadership to a new generation in the first Democratic presidential debates. But on Monday, Swalwell called a press conference at his Dublin campaign headquarters to announce that instead of continuing in the Democratic primary, he will instead seek a fifth term representing the strongly Democratic East Bay 15th district in Congress.

“Being honest with ourselves, we had to look at how much money we were raising, where we were in the polls," Swalwell told supporters, arguing that he had "moved the needle on the debate stage with an issue I was very passionate about," referring to gun control measures. “So we’ve achieved that,’’ he said. “But we have to be honest about our own candidacy’s viability."

Swalwell’s decision to bow out comes as another Californian, billionaire activist Tom Steyer — who had earlier ruled out a run for the White House — prepared to announce his entry into the race, POLITICO reported Monday.

The California congressman — who had previously told several area Democratic clubs that he would not seek re-election to the House — is facing a primary challenge from Hayward Councilmember Aisha Wahab, who has already been endorsed by an array of local and state elected officials. Wahab has taken a page from Swalwell’s playbook by presenting herself as a face of change in the district.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/08/swalwell-drops-out-2020-elections-1400395