California Rep. Eric Swalwell is expected to abandon his uphill run for the Democratic presidential nomination Monday and announce that he will instead seek a fifth term in the House.
Swalwell's plans were confirmed by a Capitol Hill source with knowledge of his intentions.
As Swalwell prepared to exit the race, another Californian, Tom Steyer, who had earlier said he would not mount a 2020 presidential run, was planning to announce that he has changed his mind.
The San Francisco billionaire, a former hedge fund chief, aims to enter the race for the Democratic nomination this week, according to a source close to Steyer. The liberal activist had traveled to Iowa in January to announce he was not running.
Swalwell has languished for months near the bottom of the polls. The 38-year-old Bay Area congressman had sought to cast himself as the candidate of a younger generation but was eclipsed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 37, of South Bend, Ind., and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, 46, of Texas.
After scrapping a visit to New Hampshire _ the first primary state _ Swalwell scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon in his East Bay congressional district, where he was expected to announce his decision. Officials with his campaign declined to discuss the matter before the news conference.
Swalwell had sent mixed signals on his intention to run again if his White House bid failed. In February, before announcing his candidacy, Swalwell told the San Francisco Chronicle he would "burn the boats" and not look back on his House seat.
"I would want people to know that I'm putting my all into this and I don't have a life insurance policy," he said. But more recently, Swalwell wavered in his vow to seek the presidency or bust.
The highest-profile moment of Swalwell's run was his attempt in a June 27 debate to cast Democratic front-runner Joe Biden as too old _ but even that was overshadowed by California Sen. Kamala Harris confronting the former vice president for opposing forced school busing for racial integration in the 1970s.
Swalwell said Biden, 76, "was right when he said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans 32 years ago; he is still right today."
"I'm still holding on to that torch," Biden replied.
Swalwell, a member of the House intelligence and judiciary committees, is a cable TV fixture known as a relentless critic of President Donald Trump. The former Alameda County prosecutor has often highlighted his support for strict gun control.
He also liked to call attention to his roots in rural Iowa, which casts the first ballots of Democrats' presidential nominating process. Swalwell lived in Iowa until he was 5 years old.
In 2010, he was elected to the Dublin City Council. A few months after taking office, he launched an improbable campaign to oust fellow Democrat Pete Stark from Congress after 20 terms. Swalwell succeeded, and he was reelected three times.
