A leading Democrat candidate for governor of California, Eric Swalwell, has dropped out of the race after claims he sexually assaulted a woman on his staff.
The California US Representative denied the claims against him and said he would fight them, but news over the weekend that the New York City Manhattan District Attorney is preparing to open a case against him may have caused him to rethink his defiant stance.
The US Department of Homeland Security on Sunday said it is probing claims that Swalwell hired a nanny illegally, though few details were released.
In a Sunday evening statement on X, Rep. Swalwell wrote, "I am suspending my campaign for Governor."
"To my family, staff, friends and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made -- but that's my fight, not the campaign's."
There has been a growing cadre of politicians, many of the Democrats, calling for Swalwell to resign from the campaign