Eric Swalwell

Early life and education

Swalwell was born in Sac City, Iowa, the first of four sons of Eric Nelson Swalwell and Vicky Joe Swalwell; his father at that time was serving as police chief in Algona, Iowa. After leaving Iowa, the family eventually settled in Dublin, California. He graduated from Wells Middle School, and then from Dublin High School in 1999

He attended Campbell University in North Carolina on a soccer scholarship from 1999 to 2001. He lost the scholarship after suffering an injury. He then transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park as a junior. In 2003, he received a bachelor's degree in Government and Politics at Maryland, and in 2006 earned his J.D. degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. He served on the College Park, Maryland city council as its student representative.

At the University of Maryland, Swalwell served as Vice President of Campus Affairs for the Student Government Association, and was an elected member of the Student-Faculty-Staff University Senate and of its executive committee. He also served as the student liaison to the City Council of College Park, MD; this appointment inspired other college towns to consider similar arrangements.

In 2014, Swalwell announced that he would serve as chairman of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's O' Say Can You See PAC's Young Professionals Leadership Circle due to his friendship with the governor. He made clear that his support was about the 2014 midterm elections and not an endorsement of a potential presidential bid by O'Malley in 2016. However, Swalwell did ultimately endorse O'Malley in July 2015.

Local political career

In 2001 and 2002, Swalwell interned for U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher D-CA 10th, in Washington, D.C., focusing on legislative research and constituent outreach and services. The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred during his internship, inspiring him to bipartisan public service. The attacks also inspired his first legislative achievement: using his Student Government Association position at Maryland to create a public-private college scholarship program for students who lost parents in the attacks.

After graduating from law school, he worked as an Alameda County deputy district attorney. He also served on the Dublin Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission from 2006 to 2008 and on the Dublin Planning Commission from 2008 to 2010 before winning election to the Dublin City Council in 2010.

2012 campaign

In September 2011, Swalwell filed papers to run for Congress in the 15th District. The district had previously been the 13th, represented by 20-term incumbent Pete Stark, a fellow Democrat. Stark had represented the district since 1973, seven years before Swalwell was born. He took a leave of absence from the Dublin city council in order to run for the seat. While he was running for the seat, an attempted recall of Swalwell from the Dublin City Council was begun, but after he won election to US House, the attempt was abandoned.

Swalwell was endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle. During the 2012 election cycle, Swalwell was accused by the Stark campaign of being a Tea Party candidate. The accusation was refuted by Swalwell and the San Jose Mercury News, which also endorsed Swalwell. Stark refused to debate Swalwell during the campaign. In response to Stark's refusal to debate, Swalwell organized a mock debate with an actor playing Pete Stark, quoting him verbatim when answering the moderator. Other campaign gimmicks included Chinese-manufactured rubber ducks, and a dreadlocked, bearded information man. Swalwell was able to contest Stark in the general election because of a new primary system in California. Under that new system, the top two primary vote-getters (Stark and Swalwell, in this case) advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

In the November 2012 election, Swalwell defeated Stark, 52.1% to 47.9%.

Committee assignments

U.S. House career

In his first term, Swalwell served on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Swalwell helped lead the fight against Transportation Security Administration administrator John Pistole on his decision to lift the ban on pocketknives at airport security; the decision eventually was reversed.

Soon after taking office, Swalwell helped establish the United Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of freshman House members that met regularly to discuss areas of agreement. United Solutions Caucus members introduced several iterations of the bipartisan Savings, Accountability, Value, and Efficiency (SAVE) Act to cut approximately hundreds of billions in government spending over 10 years by rooting out waste and improving efficiency.

During a House vote on June 18, 2013, Swalwell recorded a video of his vote against a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks to his mobile phone (the video was a six-second clip of him pressing the "nay" button on the electronic voting machine) and uploaded it to Vine, an internet video service. House rules bar "the use of mobile electronic devices that impair decorum" and provide that "No device may be used for still photography or for audio or video recording." Swalwell defended the action, stating "We operate under rules that were created in the eighteenth century, and I think it's time that the Congress start to act more like regular Americans do. I did not see this as impairing the decorum. I think what this did was highlight, for all to see, the democratic process."

On December 12, 2013, Swalwell introduced the Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act into the House. The bill allowed Americans to deduct from their 2013 taxes any

charitable donations made between January 1, 2014, and April 15, 2014, provided they were made for the relief of victims in the Republic of the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan. The typhoon did an estimated $1 billion in damage and killed thousands of people. Swawell said that "Typhoon Haiyan devastated many parts of the Philippines and we should make it as easy as possible for Americans who want to assist those affected by the storm." Swalwell saw the bill as providing "another incentive for Americans to donate and donate now - when their help is needed most." On March 25, 2014, this legislation was signed into law by President Obama.

By the end of his first term, Swalwell had gotten three bills through the House and two of them signed into law — more than any other freshman.

Swalwell was challenged in 2014 by Hugh Bussell, a senior manager at Workday and an Alameda County Republican Central Committee member, and by California State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, D-Hayward. Corbett placed third in June’s top-two primary, and Swalwell defeated Bussell in November, 69.8 percent to 30.2 percent.

In his second term, Swalwell served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and as ranking member of its CIA Subcommittee; he also retained his seat on the Science Committee.

Swalwell in April 2015 founded Future Forum, a group of young House Democrats focused upon the concerns and needs of the millennial generation. Swalwell still chairs the group – now numbering 27 members – and has traveled to more than 40 cities to listen to millennials’ concerns at college campuses, business incubators, and other locales. These listening sessions have led Swalwell to become particularly outspoken on the issue of student loan debt; as of mid-2017, Swalwell said he himself still carried almost $100,000 in debt from his undergraduate and law-school education.

Swalwell in May 2015 joined with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to launch the bipartisan Sharing Economy Caucus, to explore how this burgeoning new economic sector can benefit more Americans.

In February 2016, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi elevated Swalwell to vice-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which sets the Democratic policy agenda and nominates Democratic Members for committee assignments.

Swalwell was challenged in 2016 by Republican Danny Reid Turner of Livermore. Swalwell defeated Turner in November, 73.8 percent to 26.2 percent.

In December 2016, Swalwell was named the co-chair of Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, serving with Rosa DeLauro.

In his third term, Swalwell retained his Intelligence Committee seat but left the Science committee in order to serve on the House Committee on the Judiciary, and on its Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and its Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.

Swalwell and Rep. Elijah Cummings in December 2016 introduced the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which would create an independent, bipartisan-appointed commission to investigate foreign interference in the 2016 election. They reintroduced the legislation for the 115^th Congress in January 2017, and it soon won co-sponsorship from all House Democrats.

Through this legislation and the Intelligence Committee’s hearings, Swalwell emerged as a leading voice in the investigation of possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He has been a constant presence on national news networks throughout 2017.

Swalwell also is known for his innovative and extensive use of social media to connect with constituents. The Hill in April 2016 dubbed him “the Snapchat king of Congress,” and he used Facebook Live and Periscope to broadcast House Democrats’ historic gun-violence sit-in in June 2016. Swalwell later called for new policies regarding cameras on the House floor, and Republicans considered fining him and others for streaming the sit-in; neither has occurred.

Political positions

Swalwell has advocated the repeal of the No Child Left Behind Act, and increasing funding for education, while decreasing funding for defense. He has also advocated for renewable energy jobs to be created with federal stimulus money. He has stated he would attempt to raise the cap on the Social Security payroll tax (which currently applies to annual earnings only up to $110,000 as of 2012), so that wealthier Americans would pay more into the program. He has proposed the idea of a "mobile Congress," with members casting votes remotely, while spending more time in their districts. In March 2013, Swalwell led in the writing of an open letter to John S. Pistole, Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), opposing the new policy which would allow passengers to bring knives on-board airplanes. He is an LGBT supporter and pro-choice.

Personal life

Swalwell and his first wife are divorced. He married Brittany Watts, a sales director at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, in October 2016. Their first son, Eric Nelson, was born in May 2017.