--- title: What Will Happen to Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales’ House Seats? description: California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly called a special election to fill Swalwell's seat. It's not yet clear if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will do the same. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/04/14/eric-swalwell-tony-gonzales-house-seats-replacements-special-election/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-04-15T15:26:54.967Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-15T15:26:46.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Will Happen to Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales’ House Seats? og:description: California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly called a special election to fill Swalwell's seat. It's not yet clear if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will do the same. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/04/14/eric-swalwell-tony-gonzales-house-seats-replacements-special-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce0e0cc149fcd0ee/69deb3b91855431a59bef456/House-Seats.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: House-Seats.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Will Happen to Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales’ House Seats? twitter:description: California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly called a special election to fill Swalwell's seat. It's not yet clear if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will do the same. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce0e0cc149fcd0ee/69deb3b91855431a59bef456/House-Seats.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Will Happen to Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales’ House Seats? by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Apr 15, 2026 3:26 PM UTC  The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 2026. The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 2026.Samuel Corum—Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Apr 15, 2026 3:26 PM UTC Two members of the House resigned on Tuesday, adding more vacancies to the narrowly divided chamber ahead of the midterms. And while a special election has quickly been set to fill one of their seats this summer, what will happen to the other is up in the air. California Gov. Gavin Newsom [issued](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/04/14/governor-newsom-issues-proclamation-setting-special-election-for-california-congressional-district-14/) a proclamation on Tuesday calling a special election for Aug. 18 to replace Rep. Eric Swalwell. Swalwell [said](https://x.com/repswalwell/status/2043802702971359521?s=46) in a post on X on Monday that he planned to step down from his role, after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against him. He continued to deny the allegations, but said that it is “wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.” A day earlier, he [ended](https://time.com/article/2026/04/12/eric-swalwell-sexual-misconduct-allegations/) his California gubernatorial campaign, [upending an intense and crowded race](https://time.com/article/2026/04/13/where-the-california-governor-race-stands-after-swalwell-s-exit/) in which he was previously considered to be the Democratic frontrunner. About an hour after Swalwell announced that he would resign, Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas [said](https://x.com/RepTonyGonzales/status/2043819211865129159?s=20) in a post on X that he would retire from office. Gonzales has been accused of coercing a member of his staff into having a sexual relationship with him. He initially denied having any sexual relationship with the staffer, who died by suicide in September. But last month, he admitted to having an affair with her. Soon after, he said that he was [ending his reelection bid](https://time.com/7382815/tony-gonzales-texas-congress-reelection-drop-out-primary-affair-staffer/), but [pledged](https://x.com/RepTonyGonzales/status/2029772094481842245) to continue his term in the House. Another former staffer [alleged](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/second-staffer-says-rep-tony-gonzales-sent-sexually-explicit-texts-rcna266969) that Gonzales sent her sexually explicit text messages in 2020, [The San Antonio Express-News](https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/tony-gonzales-sexual-texts-campaign-staffer-22085908.php?utm%5Fsource=marketing&utm%5Fmedium=copy-url-link&utm%5Fcampaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXhwcmVzc25ld3MuY29tL3BvbGl0aWNzL2FydGljbGUvdG9ueS1nb256YWxlcy1zZXh1YWwtdGV4dHMtY2FtcGFpZ24tc3RhZmZlci0yMjA4NTkwOC5waHA%3D&time=MTc3NTQ4NDEwMTMzMg%3D%3D&rid=MTI4OWZmNTAtZDE3Yi00YjIxLWE4Y2EtYjQ1NTcyYTY0MDhl&sharecount=MQ%3D%3D) reported last week. Both Swalwell and Gonzales had faced growing calls to resign from office before their announcements. The House Ethics Committee had launched investigations into [both](https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-of-the-chairman-and-ranking-member-of-the-committee-on-ethics-regarding-representative-tony-gonzales/) [Congressmen](https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-of-the-chairman-and-ranking-member-of-the-committee-on-ethics-regarding-representative-eric-swalwell/). **Read More:** [Where the California Governor Race Stands After Swalwell’s Exit](https://time.com/article/2026/04/13/where-the-california-governor-race-stands-after-swalwell-s-exit/) It’s uncertain at this point when Gonzales' seat will be filled. Governors typically call special elections to replace House members who leave office before their term ends. But with the election in November less than seven months away, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not be required by state law to do so before then—and it’s not yet clear whether he intends to. [Texas law](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&code=EL&chapter=EL.204&artSec=) in [most cases](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&code=EL&chapter=EL.203&artSec=) requires the Governor to schedule a special election to fill a House vacancy on the “first uniform election date” to fall at least 36 days after the election is ordered. But the last of those dates before the fall midterms is now less than 36 days away, meaning that Gonzales’ seat would just be filled in November—unless Abbott decides to call an emergency special election. Such a move wouldn’t be without precedent: Abbott called such an election in 2018, after Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold resigned on April 6 that year. Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said in a statement that “an announcement on the seat will be made at a later date.” The current makeup of the House could play into what the Governor decides to do next. Republicans hold a majority in the House, but it is razor thin; with Swalwell, a Democrat, and Gonzales, a Republican, officially stepping down, the President’s party [currently occupies](https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown) 217 seats and Democrats 213\. Two other seats are vacant and one is held by an Independent—Rep. Kevin Kiley of California—who left the GOP last month but has continued to caucus with the party. Until Tuesday, there was another vacancy, left by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after she resigned in January. But her seat was filled by Republican Clay Fuller, who [won](https://time.com/article/2026/04/07/clay-fuller-special-election-marjorie-taylor-greene-georgia/) a special runoff election last week and was sworn into office on Tuesday. [Special elections](https://ballotpedia.org/Special%5Felections%5Fto%5Fthe%5F119th%5FUnited%5FStates%5FCongress%5F%282025-2026%29) are set to be held to fill the others in April and August. As far as the partisan split in the lower chamber, Swalwell and Gonzales’ dual departures offset one another. But if the former Congressmen’s seats aren’t filled at the same time, that could impact the divide—even if only for a short period of time. Democrats have thrived in special elections over the past year, winning multiple races by significant margins and overperforming the party’s 2024 numbers in several races they ultimately lost. Republicans’ seats—and their majorities in the House and Senate—could also be at risk in the general election, which will be [pivotal](https://time.com/7342090/midterms-elections-2026-newsom/) for both political parties. Democrats are cautiously optimistic about their chances to gain some Congressional seats, especially in the House, which they hope to reclaim. And historically, the President’s party tends to lose seats in midterm elections. Both Swalwell and Gonzales’ seats, though, are likely to remain in the hands of their respective parties; [The Cook Political Report](https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings) categorizes Swalwell’s seat as “solid” for Democrats, among the safest races in this year’s midterms, and rates Gonzales’ seat as “likely” for Republicans, just one step down from “solid.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/14/eric-swalwell-tony-gonzales-house-seats-replacements-special-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/14/eric-swalwell-tony-gonzales-house-seats-replacements-special-election/"},"headline":"What Will Happen to Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales’ House Seats?","datePublished":"2026-04-15T15:26:54.967Z","dateModified":"2026-04-15T15:26:46.000Z","description":"California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly called a special election to fill Swalwell's seat. 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