The Interview: Eric Swalwell Goes to Washington

Leading up to the most recent elections this past fall, a small-time Dublin prosecutor in his early 30s, named Eric Swalwell made national headlines as he waged an aggressive battle to unseat a once-beloved 20-term member of Congress, Pete Stark.

Come Nov. 6, 2012, Swalwell was successful - the young upstart beat the outspoken and aging liberal Stark, who had overseen the Fremont area for 40 years from the Hill.

Fast forward to today and Congressman Swalwell is now making his way as a freshman member of Congress.

He feels he has finally landed.

“Well, 11 years ago I was just an intern on Capitol Hill,” said Swalwell, as he described how the tables have turned.

“For me, I still go to the elevators that say ‘Members Only’ and I look at them and wonder, ‘Am I allowed to get on that?’ – You kind of slap yourself and say, ‘Yeah, you’re here now, you belong.’”

While Swalwell long dreamed that he was going to be a professional soccer player when he grew up, that ended after he sustained an injury in college.

As he explains in an interview with Raj Mathai at the top of this article, Swalwell then turned his attention to politics.

He interned in Congress a decade ago. Now, he is a member of Congress at the age of 32, representing East Bay communities like Dublin, Fremont and Hayward.

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