“Either he’s guilty of mortgage fraud in Washington D.C., or he’s ineligible to run for governor of California. He can’t have it both ways,” said Joel Gilbert, who filed the court complaint.
Congressman Eric Swalwell (D) has already entered the race to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom, but a new legal challenge raises an important question about Swalwell’s eligibility: does he actually live in California?
A court complaint filed in Sacramento by conservative filmmaker and activist Joel Gilbert, argues that Swalwell fails to meet the California Constitution’s residency requirement for governor. Under Article V, Section II of the state constitution, a gubernatorial candidate must have been a resident of California for the five years immediately preceding the election. Gilbert contends Swalwell does not meet that standard.
According to the filing, public records searches show no current ownership or leasehold interest held by Swalwell in California, nor any historical record of California real estate ownership. Gilbert further alleges that Swalwell’s congressional financial disclosures from 2011 through 2024 list no California property of any kind.
In fact, the address Swalwell lists in campaign paperwork filed last month is not a residence at all but the commercial office of Swalwell’s attorney: 400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2400, Sacramento.
California law does not require a gubernatorial candidate to own property, but it does require bona fide residency. Courts have historically looked beyond stated intent and campaign filings—otherwise, it would be too easy to fraudulently claim one’s residence for the purposes of winning a desired office—and instead weigh objective indicators such as where a candidate sleeps, pays taxes, registers vehicles, and maintains primary personal ties.
Based on that definition, Swalwell’s residence is Washington, D.C., Gilbert argues.
Mortgage records tied to Eric Swalwell’s purchase of 209 9th St. SE in Washington, D.C. underscore the residency questions now before the court. The District of Columbia Deed of Trust lists Swalwell and his wife as borrowers and incorporates standard Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provisions requiring an owner-occupant to declare the property as a primary residence, including a clause identifying occupancy as a “material representation.”
Swalwell appears to have signed the loan documents under seal, affirming those covenants, and again swore under oath in a Security Affidavit that the D.C. property was his principal residence, explicitly acknowledging that false statements could carry criminal penalties.
“Because the California Constitution requires five years of California residency immediately before election as governor, Eric Swalwell would have needed to abandon his D.C. domicile as his principal residence, establish a new California domicile, [and] live in his California domicile as his primary home for five uninterrupted years,” said Gilbert. “He has not done any of this.”
Gilbert further alleges that Swalwell either lied on the security affidavit to secure a favorable mortgage on the D.C. address, or he lied on campaign paperwork under penalty of perjury that California—not D.C., where he owns a property he claims as his principal address—is where he resides.
“Either he’s guilty of mortgage fraud in Washington D.C., or he’s ineligible to run for governor of California. He can’t have it both ways,” Gilbert told the Daily Mail.
In a bitter tinge of irony, it appears that it was this 209 9th St. SE in Washington, D.C address—not one in California—from which Swalwell filmed his campaign launch video for California governor. Critics have lauded the optics of that decision.
Swalwell has not been removed from the ballot, and the claims remain allegations at this stage. Courts typically require clear and convincing evidence to disqualify a candidate, and residency disputes can hinge on nuanced factual findings.
On social media, Swalwell has responded to the lawsuit by calling Gilbert a “MAGA idiot” and asserting “I’ll be [sic] beat him in court.”
He also insisted that “all Congressmen from CA… live in CA & DC.” This is false. While some Congressional representatives do own or rent a second home on the East Coast due to their work schedule, they do not typically list that property as their primary address to attain a more beneficial mortgage—and even if they did, Swalwell would be unique among them in that he alone is running for Governor. His colleagues are not subject to California’s five year residency requirement for gubernatorial candidates. Swalwell is.
Regardless of what comes next, the filing introduces uncertainty into what had been viewed as a relatively straightforward path into the race for the Democratic congressman, who has widely been seen as a leading figure on the party’s post-Newsom bench.
