Eric Swalwell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Swalwell
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Official portrait, 2016
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California |
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| Assumed office January 3, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Pete Stark (redistricting) |
| Constituency | 15th district (2013–2023) 14th district (2023–present) |
| Member of the Dublin City Council | |
| In office December 7, 2010 – January 3, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Kate Ann Scholz |
| Succeeded by | Abe Gupta |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Eric Michael Swalwell
November 16, 1980 Sac City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Republican (before 2003) |
| Spouse |
Brittany Watts
(m. 2016) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Campbell University University of Maryland, College Park (BA) University of Maryland, Baltimore (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website |
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Eric Swalwell, born on November 16, 1980, is an American lawyer and politician. He serves as a U.S. Representative for California. This means he is one of the people who represent California in the United States Congress. He has been a representative since 2013, first for the 15th district and now for the 14th district since 2023. His district includes parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. He belongs to the Democratic Party.
Swalwell was born in Sac City, Iowa, and grew up in Dublin, California. He was the first in his family to go to college. He attended Campbell University on a soccer scholarship. Later, he earned degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. While in college, he worked with the College Park City Council. He also interned for U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher.
After law school, Swalwell returned to California. He worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. He also served on the Dublin City Council for two years. In 2012, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He won against Pete Stark, who had been in office for 40 years. Since 2017, Swalwell has helped lead the House Democratic Steering Committee. He also ran for president in 2020 but later supported Joe Biden.
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Early Life and Education
Eric Swalwell was born on November 16, 1980, in Sac City, Iowa. He is the oldest of four sons. His parents, Eric Nelson Swalwell and Vicky Joe Swalwell, were both Republicans. When he was very young, his father was a police chief in Algona, Iowa. His family later moved to Dublin, California. He went to Wells Middle School and then graduated from Dublin High School in 1999. As a child, Swalwell had a condition called Bell's palsy. He had to wear an eyepatch to help treat it.
Swalwell went to Campbell University in North Carolina. He played soccer on a scholarship from 1999 to 2001. In 2001, he broke both his thumbs, which ended his scholarship. He then transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park. There, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and politics in 2003. In 2006, he received a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
At the University of Maryland, College Park, Swalwell was the Vice President of Campus Affairs for the Student Government. He was also an elected member of the University Senate. He was part of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. He often organized protests at the Maryland State House. He also worked as a student helper for the College Park City Council. This idea inspired other college towns to try similar programs.
Starting His Political Career
In 2001 and 2002, Swalwell worked as an unpaid intern for U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher. She represented California's 10th district. He helped with research for laws and connecting with people in the district. The September 11 terrorist attacks happened during his internship. This event inspired him to work in public service. It also led to his first achievement: creating a scholarship program for students who lost parents in the attacks. He did this through his Student Government Association position.
After finishing law school, Swalwell went back to California. He worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. From 2006 to 2008, he served on the Dublin Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission. Then, from 2008 to 2010, he was on the Dublin Planning Commission. In 2010, he was elected to the Dublin City Council. While he was running for Congress, some people tried to remove him from the city council, but they stopped their effort.
Serving in the U.S. House of Representatives
Elections to Congress
In September 2011, Swalwell decided to run for Congress in California's 15th district. This district was previously the 13th, represented by Pete Stark for 20 terms. Swalwell took time off from the Dublin City Council to run.
Swalwell was able to run against Stark in the main election because of California's "top two" primary system. This system allows the top two vote-getters from the primary election to move on to the general election, no matter their political party. In the June primary, Stark came in first, and Swalwell was second.
In the November 2012 election, the San Francisco Chronicle supported Swalwell. During the campaign, Stark's team said Swalwell was a Tea Party candidate. Swalwell denied this, and the San Jose Mercury News also said it wasn't true. Stark refused to debate Swalwell. So, Swalwell held a mock debate with an actor playing Stark. He used Stark's exact words when answering questions. Swalwell won the election against Stark, with 52.1% of the votes.
He was re-elected in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024. In 2022, his district changed to California's 14th congressional district. He has continued to win his elections by a large margin.
His Time in Congress
In the House of Representatives, Swalwell became known for using social media to connect with the people he represents. In 2016, The Hill newspaper called him "the Snapchat king of Congress." He used Facebook Live and Periscope to show House Democrats' protest about gun violence in June 2016. Swalwell later suggested new rules for cameras on the House floor.
Swalwell is only the third person to represent his district since 1945. George P. Miller held the seat from 1945 to 1973. Stark won it after beating Miller in 1972.
In his first term, Swalwell worked on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He helped fight against a decision to allow small knives on airplanes. This decision was later changed. Soon after starting, Swalwell helped create the United Solutions Caucus. This was a group of new House members from both parties who met to find common ground.
On December 12, 2013, Swalwell introduced the Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act. This bill allowed Americans to get tax deductions for donations made to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon caused a lot of damage and killed many people. Swalwell said the bill would encourage Americans to donate when help was most needed. President Barack Obama signed this bill into law on March 25, 2014. By the end of his first term, Swalwell had helped pass more bills into law than any other new member.
In April 2015, Swalwell started Future Forum. This was a group of young House Democrats who focused on issues important to young adults. A year later, Swalwell said that student loan debt was the biggest concern for people they met. At that time, Swalwell himself still had almost $100,000 in student loan debt.
In February 2016, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi made Swalwell the vice-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. This committee helps set the Democratic Party's plans and chooses members for other committees. In December 2016, Swalwell became a co-chair of the House Democratic Steering Committee.
Swalwell also kept his seat on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He joined the United States House Committee on the Judiciary.
In December 2016, Swalwell and Representative Elijah Cummings introduced the Protecting Our Democracy Act. This bill would create a group to investigate foreign interference in the 2016 election. They tried again in 2017, but it did not get enough support from both parties. Swalwell often appeared on national news to share his views on these investigations.
Because Swalwell was on the House Intelligence Committee, he helped investigate possible connections between people close to Donald Trump and Russian officials. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, looked into Swalwell's personal data. This also happened to Adam Schiff, who leads the House Intelligence Committee.
Swalwell also served as a prosecutor during President Trump's second impeachment trial. On March 5, 2021, Swalwell filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Representative Mo Brooks, and Rudy Giuliani. He sought damages for their alleged role in encouraging the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In January 2023, Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed Swalwell and Adam Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee.
Contact with a Suspected Spy
In December 2020, Swalwell was mentioned in a news story about a suspected Chinese agent named Christine Fang. She had been trying to connect with California politicians since 2012. The story said Fang helped with fundraising for Swalwell's 2014 election and helped place an intern in his office. Swalwell stopped contact with Fang in 2015 after U.S. intelligence officials told him about concerns that Chinese agents were trying to get information from Congress. The news report said Swalwell was not accused of doing anything wrong. Officials did not believe Fang got secret information from him.
An FBI official said that "Swalwell was completely cooperative and under no suspicion of wrongdoing." Swalwell thought someone in the Trump administration might have leaked the information to the press. He was a strong critic of Trump and served on committees involved in Trump's impeachment.
In March 2021, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tried to remove Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee, but this effort did not succeed. The House Ethics Committee investigated Swalwell in April 2021. In May 2023, the committee closed the investigation without further action. They did caution that "members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and interactions."
Committee Work
For the 118th Congress, Eric Swalwell is part of these committees:
- Committee on Homeland Security
- Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement
- Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight (He is the Ranking Member, meaning the lead member of the minority party)
- Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust
Groups He Belongs To
Swalwell is also a member of several groups in Congress, called caucuses:
- House Democratic Steering Committee (co-chair)
- American Sikh Congressional Caucus
- Black Maternal Health Caucus
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
- Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus
- Blue Collar Caucus
- Congressional Blockchain Caucus
- Rare Disease Caucus
Running for President in 2020
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On April 8, 2019, Swalwell announced he was running for president on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also released a campaign ad online. Swalwell said that gun control would be the main focus of his campaign. He made a formal announcement at Dublin High School on April 14, 2019.
Swalwell took part in one presidential debate. During the debate, he mentioned that he was six years old when Joe Biden talked about passing leadership to a younger generation. Swalwell's support in polls never went above 1%. On July 8, 2019, he stopped his campaign. At that time, he was at risk of not qualifying for the next debates.
His Political Ideas
Swalwell has asked politicians to be more genuine. He believes they should not insult each other in public and then expect to be friends behind the scenes. He has suggested a "mobile Congress," where members could vote from far away. This would allow them to spend more time in their home districts.
Ideas for Domestic Policy
Swalwell supported getting rid of the No Child Left Behind Act. He wanted to increase money for education and decrease money for defense. He also suggested creating jobs in renewable energy using government funds. He said he would try to raise the cap on the Social Security payroll tax. This would mean wealthier Americans would pay more into the program.
In March 2013, Swalwell wrote an open letter to John S. Pistole, who led the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He opposed a new rule that would let passengers bring knives onto airplanes. He supports same-sex marriage and is in favor of a woman's right to choose. Swalwell was against the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He called it "an attack on everyone's freedom" and "government-mandated pregnancy."
In 2022, Swalwell was one of 16 Democrats who voted against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022. This bill aimed to stop large companies from acting unfairly against smaller businesses.
Ideas for Foreign Policy
In 2017, Swalwell supported the Israel Anti-Boycott Act. This bill would allow U.S. states to make laws requiring companies to promise not to boycott goods from Israel or their contracts would be ended.
In 2019, Swalwell criticized Trump's trade war against China. He spoke out against the 2019 Turkish military action in northeastern Syria. He suggested that Turkey's membership in NATO might need to be paused.
In March 2022, Swalwell suggested actions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said on CNN that closing Russia's embassy in the U.S. and sending all Russian students home should be considered. He believed that Russian President Putin needed to know that more serious actions could come if he stayed in Ukraine. He received some criticism for these comments but defended his position.
Personal Life
Eric Swalwell and his first wife are divorced. He married his second wife, Brittany Ann Watts, in October 2016. She was a sales director at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay. They have three children: a son born in 2017, a daughter born in 2018, and a third child born in 2021. Swalwell identifies as "Protestant."
In 2020, Swalwell bought a home for $1.2 million in Eckington, Washington, D.C..
Images for kids
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Representative Eric Swalwell on the Capitol Hill steps with friends, family, and campaign staff, 2013
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Swalwell meets with President Barack Obama on February 12, 2015.
See also
In Spanish: Eric Swalwell para niños
