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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore) is among the familiar faces to Tri-Valley voters who will be on the ballot in the upcoming March 5 primary election, with the incumbent Democrat set to square off against three Republican opponents for the chance to move ahead to the general election.
Swalwell – a Dublin native and former member of the Dublin City Council – is seeking reelection to the seat in the 14th Congressional District that he was last elected to in 2022, with his opponent from that election, Alison Hayden (R-Hayward) seeking again to unseat the six-term Tri-Valley congressman.
CEO Vin Kruttiventi (R-Pleasanton) and Chabot-Las Positas Community College District Trustee Luis Reynoso (R-Castro Valley) are also vying for the spot.
As a popular and longtime incumbent who won the 2022 election with close to 70% of the vote compared with approximately 30% for Hayden, Swalwell is likely to be one of the two candidates with the most votes in the primary election who will head to the general election in November.
However, that still remains to be decided by voters in the upcoming primary election, with November’s candidates pending until then.
Swalwell said on his campaign website that he is seeking to continue his 11-year tenure in congress in an effort to contend with “an America in partisan quicksand, making zero progress on the things that matter most.”
“I hear from school children who are learning in fear because too many lawmakers love their guns more than they love our kids,” Swalwell wrote. “I want to bring the promise of America to all Americans. The promise is a simple one: if you work hard, your blood, sweat, and tears should add up to you doing better for yourself and dreaming bigger for your kids.”
Hayden, a special education teacher, is challenging Swalwell for the third time in a row, having been the second top vote-getter behind the incumbent in the primary elections of 2020 and 2022. She has been an outspoken critic of Swalwell throughout, urging voters to seek an alternative to the longtime incumbent whose own outspoken presence in the House of Representatives and social media have made him the subject of right-wing scrutiny and controversy.
“I will immediately address the safety concerns … and the financial instabilities and risks that threaten families economically as well as bring new vision and opportunities,” Hayden told Embarcadero Media in 2022.
Reynoso was elected to the Chabot-Las Positas Board of Trustees in 2020 amid a four-term tenure on the Hayward Unified School District’s board starting in 2008. He was censured by the local college board last year following student outcry over a reportedly transphobic meme posted to his social media account, with much of his platform thus far in the campaign centered on the controversy, calling the move a “witch hunt” on his campaign website.
“I champion your values and challenge wokeism, school curriculum sexualization, and Covid-19 restrictions,” Reynoso wrote on his campaign website. “I am defending our country from the enemy within. I am standing up for you and the silenced majority.”
Kruttiventi is a first-time candidate for public office and founder of the business and technology consulting firm A5 Corporation. He has also centered his campaign on criticism of Swalwell and a platform that includes emphases on fiscal stability, energy independence and seeking to “protect American interests,” according to his campaign website.
“Swalwell has once again proved to be out of touch and disconnected from the lived experience of the people in the 14th district,” Kruttiventi said in a statement on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent implementation of a “law enforcement surge” to the East Bay.
“In fairness to Congressman Swalwell, he hasn’t actually lived in the district for many years, so one can understand where that disconnect might originate from. Ultimately, the people of the East Bay deserve better than silence; they deserve to be heard. I’m running for Congress because the East Bay deserves a voice in Congress they can count on,” he added.
Voters are set to decide the top two candidates in the March 5 primary election, after which the race for the general election in November is set to be finalized.
