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One of Rep. Eric Swalwell’s, D-Calif., top Democratic opponents in the race for California governor unleashed a “savage” campaign ad using Swalwell’s own words against him.
Billionaire gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer, who was also unsuccessful in running for president in 2020, used multiple videos Swalwell posted on social media during the 2025 government shutdown by the pool and at the gym as an attack on his missed votes in Washington, D.C.
The Swalwell videos, which were initially intended as an attack on Republicans and blaming them for why he wasn’t working during the 40+ day shutdown, repeatedly say, “I should be working.”
“Eric Swalwell’s job is to vote in Congress,” the ad starts out in between videos of Swalwell in the pool and at the gym telling his followers that he “should be working” right now. “In 2025, Eric Swalwell missed 95 votes. That’s more than Rep. Raul Grijalva missed. Rep. Grijalva died in March 2025.”
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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) wears a protective mask while speaking during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on April 15, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)
According to GovTrack.US, Swalwell missed 102 out of 139 roll call votes, or 73%, between Sept. 19, 2025 and Feb. 9, 2026. In late November, he announced his run to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom as California’s next governor. In Steyer’s ad, the billionaire’s campaign claims Swalwell has missed 68% of votes since declaring his candidacy.
“He hasn’t been showing up to work, and now he’s asking for a promotion,” the advertisement concluded, as it continued showing clips of Swalwell bench pressing and talking about how he should be in a suit on Capitol Hill and not pumping iron.
Congressman Eric Swalwell pumping iron in a video he posted to social media in July 2025, slamming Republicans for allegedly sending him home and preventing the California congressman from doing his job. (Eric Swalwell for Governor)
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“Savage,” Democratic commentator Kaivan Shroff posted on X.
“Steyer going negative on Swalwell this early is the latest piece of evidence Dem primaries this cycle are going to be nastier than they’ve been in a while,” senior Huffington Post editor Kevin Robillard posted on X.
“Brutal ad,” Washington Free Beacon reporter Jon Levine posted on X.
Swalwell began posting these videos last summer, complaining that Republicans had sent him home for political reasons.
“I should be working right now. I should be in Congress. I should be voting to lower your costs. But, instead, I’m in a pool because Republicans sent everyone home because they don’t want to release the Epstein files,” Swalwell said in a late July video he posted to his social media accounts from a glistening pool on the water. “We could be working to lower your costs, make sure healthcare is affordable, and make sure we are restoring the rights of everyone in our community. I should be working right now.”
“Swalwell has, however, kept constituents informed of his workouts even if he is not actually working,” contributor Jonathan Turley posted on X last summer. “It turns out that the shutdown was not the problem since he is being outvoted by deceased colleagues.”
According to Swalwell and other Democrats, at the time, Republicans sent everyone in Congress home early to avoid voting on an Epstein transparency app, later passed. However, Republicans said that Democrats were trying to ram through measures already being pursued by the executive branch at the time.
The pool video was part of a series of other “I should be working right now” videos from Swalwell at the time, including one he took while throwing out the first pitch for his hometown’s minor league baseball team and another one of him bench pressing 135 pounds at the gym.
Congressman Eric Swalwell lounging in his pool in a video he posted to social media slamming Republicans for allegedly sending him home and preventing the California congressman from doing his job in July 2025. (Eric Swalwell for Governor)
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Digital reached out to Swalwell and his representatives for comment on the criticism about him missing votes, but did not hear back in time for publication.
