Eric Swalwell’s money has become toxic — fast.
As a rising star in the Democratic Party, the California representative donated widely to battleground campaigns across the country. Now, amid Swalwell’s resignation from Congress following sexual misconduct allegations, many are rushing to distance themselves from him.
Rebecca Cooke, who is hoping to flip a critical House seat in Wisconsin, has renounced Swalwell’s endorsement of her campaign. So, too, did Jordan Wood, who’s running in Maine’s swingy 2nd District. And former Gov. Roy Cooper, who’s making a bid for the North Carolina Senate seat that could swing control of the chamber, rejected an endorsement from Swalwell’s Remedy PAC.
In all, a dozen Democrats in top Senate and House races told POLITICO they plan to donate the campaign contributions they’ve received this cycle from Swalwell and his PAC to various charities.
Their discomfort with Swalwell comes as the party grapples with how to address the sexual assault and misconduct allegations that have felled the seven-term representative’s career in the House and gubernatorial campaign, spurred criminal and House ethics investigations and prompted a GOP-led push to expel him from Congress.
Republicans are already working to make Democratic candidates’ ties to Swalwell a pain point, hammering them in statements and on social media over the money he’s given in recent years.
Most of that has gone toward battleground districts, as well as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to a POLITICO analysis of federal campaign finance filings. So far this cycle, Remedy PAC has given a total of $26,500 to 23 Democratic candidates; in the 2024 cycle, the group gave nearly $170,000 to more than 60 Democratic members and candidates.
Swalwell has also donated more than $2,000 to House members this cycle from his own campaign account. His team did not respond to a request for comment, but the lawmaker has repeatedly vowed to “fight” what he has called “serious, false allegations” of sexual misconduct reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he wrote Monday in announcing his decision to resign.
Cooke wrote on X that she was “appalled by the allegations” against Swalwell and is donating the $5,000 she received from Swalwell’s PAC across her 2024 and 2026 congressional campaigns to five charities, including several food pantries. Wood, who previously was chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter, one of Swalwell’s rivals for California governor, said he is donating the $1,000 he received to a food bank.
Cooper’s campaign told POLITICO that it has donated the $1,000 it received from Remedy PAC to the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Another one of Democrats’ star Senate recruits, former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, donated the $1,000 he received from Remedy to a shelter for victims of domestic violence, according to his campaign.
Other Democrats in hotly contested races who confirmed they plan to donate Swalwell’s contributions include: Rep. Haley Stevens, who is running for Senate in Michigan; Rep. Angie Craig, who’s vying for Senate in Minnesota; Reps. Dan Goldman in New York, Yassamin Ansari in Arizona and George Whitesides, Derek Tran, Dave Min and Adam Gray in California.
A growing number of House lawmakers, including Craig and Ansari, have called on both Swalwell and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) — who admitted to a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide — to step aside or be expelled from the chamber.
“There’s a larger pattern here. For too long, Washington politicians have abused their power and preyed on young staffers. I refuse to be silent. It must stop,” Craig said Monday.
Gray was a co-chair of Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign but withdrew his support and called for Swalwell to drop out after the allegations went public. Min and Tran were both early endorsers of Porter in the California governor’s race, and Swalwell had previously backed one of Min’s opponents in 2024.
Min said in a statement he had only learned of the contribution to his campaign this week.
“Given the seriousness of the allegations made against him, I am not comfortable with this, so I have donated this contribution to Waymakers, an Orange County non-profit that assists survivors of sexual assault,” Min said in an X post.
Swalwell’s political career swiftly imploded after the allegations surfaced. Democratic Party leaders yanked their support and urged Swalwell to drop out. Staffers from his congressional office and campaign released an unsigned statement saying they were “horrified” by the allegations. Then, more than 50 former staffers called for him to resign and drop out of the governor’s race. By Sunday, he had exited the race. By Monday, he stepped down from his seat.
Republicans are determined to wield Swalwell as a campaign cudgel. The National Republican Congressional Committee told POLITICO it’s closely tracking Democrats who’ve accepted contributions from Swalwell and have other ties to him. The campaign arm is pressuring the candidates who have yet to issue public statements to ditch the lawmaker’s donations.
“Every single vulnerable House Democrat must return the filthy creep cash or own the rot they’re protecting,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.
The NRCC and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who Cooke is again trying to unseat, needled the Democrat over the weekend to return the donations. After she did, Van Orden suggested she did so out of “political convenience.”
“I find it appalling that Rebecca Cooke would wait to renounce the endorsement from the disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell until she received tremendous heat from the media,” Van Orden said in a text message Monday, referring to coverage from a local conservative outlet. “This is not leadership, this is political convenience for her.”
Some Democrats accused Republicans of hypocrisy for not taking accountability for the actions of their own members. They cited Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) — who is facing myriad misconduct allegations and is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee — as well Gonzales, who dropped his reelection bid last month amid pressure from House GOP leadership.
“The hacks at the NRCC who are currently defending Cory Mills and spent six-figures just last month to protect Tony Gonzales should sit this one out,” Viet Shelton, a DCCC spokesperson, said in a statement. “It’s Democrats who are actually standing up and calling for accountability in Congress — consistently and independent of party.”
