Gov. Gavin Newsom fundraised off of his expedited special election call to fill disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s seat.
Newsom’s political action committee has begun fundraising on his effort to keep House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) majority as slim as possible after Swalwell resigned earlier this week due to multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
“The people of California’s 14th District deserve representation in the House as soon as possible, and with a very slim Republican majority in Congress I was not going to give Mike Johnson even a single extra day before filling this seat,” Newsom wrote.
The special election is set for Aug. 18, following Newsom’s proclamation on Tuesday to start the process for the election. Swalwell resigned at 2 p.m. Tuesday, just days after he was first accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer. At least four other women came forward with similar allegations.
The House margins remain in flux week by week as a slew of resignations, deaths, and other factors have led to many special elections this Congress, all while Johnson navigates the slimmest margin in history, often only having a one-vote margin on major legislation.
Newsom’s overt call to keep Johnson’s majority slim comes as former Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales also resigned this week amid sexual misconduct allegations, leaving Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to call a special election for his seat.
“An announcement on the seat will be made at a later date,” Abbott’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris told the Washington Examiner.
Abbott held off on filing for the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner’s seat for over a year, but never outwardly expressed why he held off on holding the special election as long as possible.
NEWSOM SETS DATE FOR SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL SWALWELL’S HOUSE SEAT
Brandon Herrera, the Republican candidate for Gonzales’s old district in the November midterm election, told the Washington Examiner earlier this week that “everything seems to be pointing to a special election in November, just based on state law.”
Newsom held off on scheduling a special election following the death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa in January. The special election for LaMalfa’s remaining term will take place on Aug. 4 if no candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the June 2 primary.