The political career of Congressman Eric Swalwell is currently under scrutiny as he faces allegations of not having maintained a California residence for the past five years, a constitutional prerequisite for running for the Governor's office in the state.
The controversy surrounding Swalwell's eligibility has been escalating, particularly after it was revealed that Swalwell had declared his Washington, D.C. residence as his "principal residence" on legally binding mortgage documents. This directly contradicts the residency qualifications stipulated under California law.
According to the Gateway Pundit, Swalwell's mortgage filings clearly indicate his D.C. home as his primary residence. This admission, as per the California Constitution (Article V, Section 2) and Elections Code 349, makes him ineligible for the gubernatorial office.
Candidates aspiring to run for governor are required to file California Form 501, the Candidate Intention Statement, with the Secretary of State. The form mandates a verifiable home street address to confirm identity, establish legal residency, and prevent fraud in the candidate qualification process.
However, Swalwell, in his Form 501 signed under penalty of perjury on November 11, 2015, listed his home address as "400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2400, Sacramento, CA 95814." This address is not Swalwell's residence but the office of his attorneys at Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Swalwell, who represents Californias 15th District, lists his hometown as Livermore on his Congressional profile page.
A property search in Alameda County public records, conducted through a document retrieval service called "Bay Area File," found no property records associated with Swalwell. The conclusion drawn from this is that Swalwell does not currently own, nor has he ever owned, a home in Alameda County, California, which includes the city of Livermore.
Swalwell's annual Congressional financial disclosures since 2011 independently confirm this fact, listing no California real estate and no California mortgages.
Swalwell's financial disclosures for 2025 paint a bleak picture of his personal finances. Despite earning $174,000 per year for 13 years in the US Congress, Swalwell has failed to pay down his student loans of $100,000, remains mired in $100,000 of credit card debt, and has even cashed out his pension. This financial mismanagement could be a contributing factor to Swalwell's inability to maintain a California home.
The California Constitution mandates a gubernatorial candidate to be "a citizen of the United States and a resident of this State for five years immediately preceding the Governors election." However, "resident" in California law refers to "domicile," a legally fixed, true, and permanent home. Swalwell's public online Deed of Trust for his home at 209 S Street NE in Washington, D.C., dated April 18, 2022, confirms the property is designated as his "principal residence" as a condition of the loan.
The deed includes explicit language making the borrower liable for false or misleading statements regarding occupancy. Swalwell cannot retroactively pretend California is his domicile to run for governor. Domicile is continuous and must be supported by evidence of actual habitation for five years. Swalwell's sworn principal residence mortgage document for his Washington, D.C., home provides conclusive evidence of his domicile in Washington, D.C, since 2022, and not the state of California.
Swalwell's use of his attorneys Sacramento office as his home address on Form 501 appears to be an attempt to obscure his ineligibility. The situation took a turn for the worse when Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred Swalwell to the Department of Justice for potential mortgage fraud. Swalwell responded by filing a civil lawsuit against Pulte and FHFA, claiming in the lawsuit that his mortgage listed on the public database mytax.dc.gov is private, while claiming he included an affidavit with his mortgage claiming it was only his wifes home.
However, no such affidavit appears in the recorded Deed of Trust, and any document Swalwell may have mailed in later, hoping to qualify for California governor, would have no legal standing. Borrowers cannot rewrite a mortgage by filing a retroactive affidavit. Swalwell's own documents have eliminated any doubt. He has not lived in California for the required five years, he does not own a California home, and he knowingly submitted a Form 501 listing a fake residential address, his attorneys Sacramento office, to conceal that fact.
This is not a clerical oversight. It is a deliberate attempt to bypass the California Constitution and mislead state election officials. No candidate, especially a sitting member of Congress, is entitled to falsify residency records to gain access to the governors office. The law applies to him just as it applies to every Californian.
California voters deserve integrity, not a candidate who treats legal filings as obstacles to be gamed. Swalwell should withdraw immediately before the Secretary of State, the courts, or federal investigators do it for him. The residency requirement is not optional.
It is a constitutional safeguard meant to prevent exactly this type of deception, and Swalwells candidacy collapses the moment the facts are placed under honest scrutiny. A complaint with the California Secretary of State has already been filed against Swalwell.
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