Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell enters 2020 presidential race

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last updated 9 April 2019

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) announced on Monday's Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he is running for president.

Swalwell, 38, is the 18th Democrat to enter the 2020 race, and the third under 40. He's also the ninth sitting member of Congress to throw his hat in the ring, The Wall Street Journal notes. He was first elected to Congress in 2012, after serving on the city council in Dublin, California, and as an Alameda County prosecutor.

Swalwell told Colbert he sees "a country in quicksand, unable to solve problems and threats from abroad, unable to make life better for people at home. Nothing gets done." He's talked with teachers and truckers who "feel like they are just running in place and it's not adding up to anything," Swalwell said, as well as young people saddled with too much student loan debt and kids who are afraid of gun violence in their schools. "I'm ready to solve these problems," he declared. "I'm running for president of the United States. It's official." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.