Bay Area voters in California’s 14th Congressional District head to the polls Tuesday in a special primary election to fill the seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April following sexual assault allegations he has denied. Swalwell also withdrew from the California governor’s race, in which he was a top contender.
The heavily Democratic district is expected to send a Democrat to Congress, which would further narrow the already thin Republican majority in the U.S. House. A field of nearly a dozen candidates is competing in the primary.
Tuesday’s special primary is one of two campaigns underway for Swalwell’s former seat. The winner will serve out the remaining 15 weeks of Swalwell’s term. A separate regularly scheduled election will determine who represents the district in the next Congress for a term that starts in January 2027.
For several of the candidates, Tuesday’s primary is the second time in two weeks they have appeared on a ballot for this U.S. House seat.
As previously reported, Swalwell resigned from Congress and exited the governor’s race in April after a California woman alleged he raped her in 2018. Swalwell has denied the allegations.