He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was a first-generation college student , having briefly attended Campbell University on a soccer scholarship before earning degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park , and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
As a college student, he served as a student liaison to the College Park City Council and interned for U. Representative Ellen Tauscher. Swalwell returned to California after law school and worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. He was appointed to multiple municipal commissions in Dublin and later served two years on the Dublin City Council. He was elected to the U. House of Representatives in , defeating year incumbent Pete Stark in an upset.
Swalwell has co-chaired the House Democratic Steering Committee since He was a candidate in the Democratic Party presidential primaries from April to July before dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden. Swalwell was born on November 16, , in Sac City, Iowa. After leaving Iowa, the family eventually settled in Dublin, California. To treat the condition, he had to wear an eyepatch. Swalwell attended Campbell University in North Carolina and played soccer on a scholarship for the Campbell Fighting Camels from to He was an active member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
In and , Swalwell worked as an unpaid intern for U. He focused on legislative research and constituent outreach and services. After graduating from law school, Swalwell returned to California and worked as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. Congress, an anonymous group attempted to recall Swalwell from the city council, [ 14 ] [ 15 ] but the effort was later abandoned. In September , Swalwell filed to run for Congress in California's 15th district.
Swalwell took a leave of absence from the Dublin City Council to run for the seat. Swalwell was able to contest Stark in the general election because of California's "top two" primary system put in place by Proposition Under that system, the top two primary vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
