California Democrat Eric Swalwell jumps into crowded 2020 presidential race

The show posted a clip of the interview in which the 38-year-old Democrat said the country needs a leader who is willing to address critical issues such as student debt and gun control and is willing to “go big on issues we take on, be bold on the solutions we offer and do good in the way that we govern.”

“I’m ready to solve these problems. I’m running for president of the United States,” Swalwell said in a long-expected announcement.

“It’s official,” Swalwell told Colbert. “Boy, did it feel good to say that.”

Swalwell said in late January during an interview on CNN he was close to a decision on whether to make a run for the White House.

“It’s just right now a family decision at this point,” he said at the time. “You’ve got to put in place how your family’s going to handle this.”

The fourth-term congressman is entering a crowded field with better known and better funded candidates who have been campaigning for months now.

Swalwell, a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, was first elected to the House out of California’s 15th District in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

He was born in Sac City, Iowa, in 1980, but grew up in Dublin, California, where he graduated from Dublin High School. He married Brittany Watts in 2016 and the couple has two young children.