Swalwell slammed for missing more votes in 2025 than Dem colleague who passed away
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One of Rep. Eric Swalwell’s most prominent Democratic rivals in the California governor’s race has released a “savage” campaign ad using Swalwell’s own words against him.
Billionaire gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer, who also failed in the presidential race in 2020, I used more than one video Swalwell posted on social media as an attack on the votes he missed while poolside and at the gym in Washington, D.C., during the 2025 government shutdown
Originally intended as an attack on Republicans, blaming them for why he wasn’t working during the 40-plus day shutdown, Swalwell’s videos repeatedly say, “I should be working.”
“Eric Swalwell’s job is to vote in Congress,” the ad begins, amid videos of Swalwell in the pool and at the gym telling followers he “should be working” right now. “In 2025, Eric Swalwell missed 95 votes. That’s more votes than Rep. Raul Grijalva missed. Rep. Grijalva died in March 2025.”
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Representative 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)
Swalwell missed 102 of 139 roll call votes, or 73%, between Sept. 19, 2025, and Feb. 9, 2026, according to GovTrack.US. In late November, he announced he would run to replace Governor Gavin Newsom as California’s next governor. In Steyer’s ad, the billionaire’s campaign claims that Swalwell has missed 68% of the vote since announcing his candidacy.
“He didn’t show up for work and now he wants a promotion.” advert It ended as Swalwell continued showing clips of his bench press and talking about how he should be on Capitol Hill in a suit and not pumping iron.
In a video posted on social media in July 2025, Congressman Eric Swalwell harshly criticized Republicans for allegedly sending him home and preventing the California congressman from doing his job. (Eric Swalwell for Governor)
ICE EXECUTIVE CHANGED SWALWELL’S SCRIPT AFTER DEMANDING DEM MP’S RESIGNATION
“Savage,” Democratic commentator Kaivan Shroff posted on X.
Senior Huffington Post editor Kevin Robillard posted on
Washington Free Beacon reporter Jon Levine posted a “cruel ad” on X.
Swalwell began posting these videos last summer, complaining that Republicans were sending him home for political reasons.
“I should be working right now. I should be in Congress. I should be voting to cut your costs. But instead I’m in a pool because the Republicans sent everyone home because they didn’t want to release the Epstein files,” Swalwell said in a video he posted to his social media accounts in late July from a shiny pool on the water. “We could be working to lower your costs, to make sure healthcare is affordable, and to make sure we restore the rights of everyone in our society. I should be working right now.”
“But Swalwell kept voters informed about his workouts, even if he wasn’t actually working out,” Fox News correspondent Jonathan Turley posted on X last summer. “It turned out that the closure was not a problem because he was not voted for by his dead colleagues.”
Republicans at the time sent everyone in Congress home early to avoid voting on Epstein’s transparency bill, Swalwell and other Democrats later admitted, according to Swalwell and other Democrats. But Republicans said Democrats were trying to implement measures already in place by the executive branch at the time.
The pool video was part of a series of other “I should be working out right now” videos Swalwell was making at the time; One of them was taken while he was pitching the first pitch for his hometown minor league baseball team, and the other was taken while bench pressing 135 pounds in the gym.
Congressman Eric Swalwell lounged in his pool in a video posted on social media, criticizing Republicans for allegedly sending him home in July 2025 and preventing the California congressman from doing his job. (Eric Swalwell for Governor)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell and his representatives for comment about criticism that he missed votes but did not hear back by time of publication.
