Rep. Eric Swalwell, right, posing with law
enforcement while wearing a DEA cap.

15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Don’t call East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell a Republican or you will pay for it.

After Swalwell tweeted a comment referring to his Republicans parents, Guillermo Elenes, an elected member of the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee, responded, “You are basically a Republican. Stop lying.”

“Hahahaha. No seriously. I’m laughing,” said Swalwell, a three-term member of Congress.

Swalwell then took the conversation private and began berating Elenes, one of the most progressive members of the 18th Assembly District Central Committee.

In a direct message, Swalwell told Elenes, “Seriously, you are a dimwit,” and “100% rating by every liberal organization.” For good measure, Swalwell added another, “Seriously. A dim wit.”

Elenes told the East Bay Citizen he was surprised by the tenor of the response from a sitting member of Congress and with very little prodding.

Questioning the depth of Swalwell’s progressive ideology has long been a sore subject. His congressional office once complained about an East Bay Express article that suggested he was a moderate Democrat.

Swalwell, though, is clearly a lefty, in the national sense, but in the ultra-progressive East Bay, suggestion by activists like Elenes over whether Swalwell is “progressive enough” still persist.