Two representatives resigned from Congress this week following separate allegations of misconduct.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) was in the middle of a gubernatorial campaign when a former staffer accused him of sexual assault and rape. Three other women also came forward to accuse him of misconduct, saying he sent explicit messages over social media. Swalwell denied the allegations, but ended his campaign after losing prominent endorsements, resigning from congress on Tuesday.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) admitted to sending sexually explicit text messages to his staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, who he allegedly had an affair with. Santos-Aviles took her life in 2025. Gonzales resigned shortly after Swalwell on Tuesday.
Commentators across the spectrum expressed support for victims, delving into the ostensible credibility of the victims. Some focused on how ousting Swalwell from the governor’s race helps Democrats.
Jessica Grose wrote in the New York Times Opinion (Left), “I don’t think either Swalwell or Gonzales would have quit Congress without the whisper network of online feminists. My framing on all of this has shifted a bit lately. Instead of seeing the strong anti-feminist backlash of the past few years as a sign of weakness in the movement, I now see it as a mark of strength. If women had not been accruing real social and political power in the 2010s, there would have been no need to forcefully put us down.”
A Washington Examiner (Lean Right) piece noted the timing of the allegations. “Translation: Basically, everyone in the California Democratic political machine knew about Swalwell’s behavior and did absolutely nothing…So why are all of these horrific allegations against him coming out, in some cases, years later? One theory being discussed involves California’s (ridiculous) jungle primary. In this system, only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party…If the June 2 primary were held today, both Republicans would advance, leaving Democrats without a candidate on the ballot…With Swalwell out of the race, the assumption is that enough of his support would default to Porter or Steyer, placing one of them against Hilton or Blanco.”
An LA Times (Lean Left) opinion said, “The lightning-fast downfall of Eric Swalwell is a testament to the astonishing, often-denigrated ‘soft power’ of public shame...Now our culture is less likely to shame and discredit women who say they’ve been victimized, and more likely to shame powerful men who are credibly accused by multiple women…For centuries, a small proportion of men — men we now call serial offenders — have sexually exploited and assaulted women because they knew society would usually let them get away with it. Many of them simultaneously sought public adulation. If the threat of humiliation discourages only a few of the next generation of Weinsteins and Epsteins — and they are out there already, operating in the shadows — shame will have proved its value.”
Jim Geraghty (Lean Right) wrote in National Review (Right), “Whatever we think the lesson of the Me Too movement ought to have been, the dominant takeaway from Me Too was that ‘men who were already disliked for reasons unrelated to their sexual misbehavior should resign and be driven from public life when they are accused of sexual misconduct.’ Large swaths of the public are righteously and furiously angry about sexual misconduct when it is committed by people they dislike but strangely forgiving or simply uninterested in the topic when it is committed by people they like or deem a necessary political ally…The lesson of Me Too should have been that the presumption of innocence cannot be hand-waved away, but that accusations should be taken seriously by someone who has genuine authority of the transgressor.”
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