Two Resignations; NJ-11

By Jim Ellis — Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Resignations

Monday, amid sexual assault and harassment allegations, California US Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore/East San Francisco Bay Area) announced that he will be resigning his congressional seat. After withdrawing from the Governor’s race the day before and not eligible to seek re-election because the California candidate filing deadline has long since passed, Swalwell’s political career is likely over.

Hours later on Monday, US Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who was involved in an extramarital affair with a staff member who then committed suicide, also said he will resign his Texas congressional seat. Two other members, both from Florida, Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D) and Cory Mills (R), are also under ethical clouds.

Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick is already under federal indictment for stealing and misusing COVID and government administrative funds, and the House Ethics Committee found her guilty of 25 related ethical violations. Rep. Mills has been accused of similar sexual misconduct as Swalwell though to a lesser degree.

Very likely, the bipartisan move forming in the House to expel the four, two Democrats and two Republicans, was gaining fast support, which undoubtedly led to the quick Swalwell and Gonzales decisions to leave voluntarily rather than experience the humiliation of expulsion.

With the two resignations, it is unclear at this point whether the move to expel the others will continue. What we do know is we will see two more vacant seats in the House.

The New Jersey vacancy was filled Tuesday night, while the California 1st District seat of the late Doug LaMalfa (R) will go to the ballot on June 2. If no candidate receives majority support, a runoff election will occur on August 4th.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will set the special election calendar for District 14 to replace Swalwell for the balance of the term. Under California special election law and depending upon the exact date when the seat comes open, Gov. Newsom could schedule the 14th District special concurrently with the 1st District election calendar.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has wide latitude in terms of scheduling special elections. With the Republicans being down another seat, Abbott will be under national GOP pressure to schedule the Gonzales replacement special quickly. Again, depending upon the exact day that Gonzales resigns, Gov. Abbott may be able to schedule the 23rd District special election vote concurrently with the May 26 runoff election date.

Under Texas special election procedure, if a candidate receives majority support in the first election, the individual is elected outright. If no one reaches the majority plateau, the Governor will then schedule the runoff election when it becomes official that such an election is necessary.

Republicans already have a 23rd District general election nominee in the person of businessman Brandon Herrera, so it is likely the party leaders will line up to support him in the special election and attempt to dissuade any major contender from running. Doing so would give Herrera the clearest opportunity to win outright.

It remains to be seen if the other two members face an expulsion vote. Since both are from Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) would determine the special election calendar if one or both seats become vacant. The regular Florida primary is Aug. 18, so this would be the most likely day for a special election vote. It is also possible that he could schedule any necessary runoff concurrently with the general election.

In conclusion, the resignations and possible resignations or expulsions will once again change the size of the House chamber. Because the partisan breakdown is even between the two parties, the latest vacancies are less cumbersome because combined they bring neither party an overt advantage.

NJ-11

Northern New Jersey voters went to the polls yesterday to fill the state’s 11th Congressional District seat; Democratic Socialist and former Sen. Bernie Sanders’ staff member Analilia Mejia won the seat. Her GOP opponent was Joe Hathaway, the Mayor of Randolph Township.

The 11th District that stretches from the northern Newark suburbs and through Morristown is reliably Democratic, and Republicans are not making a concerted effort to compete here. Therefore, last night’s election result was virtually a foregone conclusion.

After the election, the House open seat count drops to 61. With the Swalwell and Gonzales resignations, the open number will not change because neither were running for re-election and were included in the aggregate figure.