Back in January, a California filmmaker filed a lawsuit claiming that Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, who is running to replace outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom, is ineligible to run for the seat. Why? The suit claims that Swalwell has no permanent California residence, and that he lives in a $1.2 million D.C. mansion he claimed as his primary residence for mortgage purposes.
Now one of Swalwell’s Democratic opponents, Tom Steyer, is also making the claim that Swalwell is ineligible to run.
Tom Steyer’s campaign petitioned the California secretary of state to enforce a dormant residency requirement in the governor’s race, arguing rival Eric Swalwell “appears to live in California on paper only.”
The request, first reported here, elevates a charge that was previously limited to conservative critics into a full-blown campaign attack by one of Swalwell’s top-polling Democratic opponents.
The secretary of state’s office has for years considered a requirement that candidates reside in the state for five years immediately prior to the election to be unconstitutional and unenforceable. But Steyer’s campaign argued a hostile Trump administration — which has lobbed mortgage fraud allegations against Swalwell after the House member helped lead impeachment proceedings against the president — could exploit legal ambiguity to embroil California in a “constitutional crisis” if Swalwell wins.
This means Swalwell is lying about his residency or possibly committed mortgage fraud.
Hellbound and Down 