California’s political scene is no stranger to controversy, but the latest commotion swirling around Rep. Eric Swalwell’s bid for governor is as unusual as it is headline-grabbing. The spark? Not a policy debate or campaign misstep, but an erotic poem the congressman penned more than two decades ago—now resurrected and splashed across national headlines as the 2026 gubernatorial race heats up.
Swalwell, who has represented California’s 14th Congressional District since 2013, found himself at the center of a media storm when a poem titled “Hungover From Burgundy,” written at age 19 for a creative writing class at Campbell University in North Carolina, resurfaced. The poem, published in the university’s literary magazine The Lyricist, is a two-stanza piece brimming with evocative imagery: “My anxious arm she bit — my scar is beautiful. While I screamed, She bent her lips to mine. Kissing till veins imploded and exploded, till blood rolled down our chins.”
It’s not every day that a decades-old college poem becomes political ammunition. But that’s exactly what happened when Joel Gilbert, a 61-year-old conservative filmmaker and activist known for his penchant for conspiracy theories, unearthed the poem and provided it to the Daily Mail. Gilbert, who opposes Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid, has a history of producing films with controversial—often debunked—claims, including Dreams from My Real Father, which made false assertions about former President Barack Obama’s parentage.
Gilbert didn’t just stop at sharing the poem. He criticized its themes as “disturbing,” telling the Daily Mail, “It’s disturbing how he eroticizes violence. You have to wonder what Swalwell’s woke allies in the #MeToo movement would make of his flippant alignment of drunkenness, abuse and casual sex.” The filmmaker’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed; the story was quickly picked up by outlets like the New York Post and amplified across social media.
Swalwell, now 45, responded to the renewed scrutiny with a mix of humor and defiance. “You think my poetry at 19 was bad? Wait till you see my 12-yr-old diary,” he quipped on social media after the story gained traction. His spokesman echoed the lighthearted tone, telling the Daily Mail, “If you think Eric’s poetry at 18 was bad, you should see his diary entries from when he was 12.”
But the poem wasn’t the only piece of Swalwell’s college past to come under the microscope. According to the Daily Mail, Gilbert also shared other student writings, including op-eds in The Campbell Times defending controversial figures such as Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. In a December 1999 column, Swalwell—writing as “The Radically Poetic”—called for the release of Abu-Jamal and Peltier, the latter of whom had his life sentence commuted to indefinite house arrest in January 2025 by President Joe Biden. In another op-ed from March 2000, Swalwell expressed political ambivalence, writing, “I’m not a Republican, nor am I a Democrat— is there really a difference besides an elephant and a donkey?” He described his politics as belonging to his own party: “Lost Cause.”
Swalwell’s time at Campbell University was marked by creative exploration. Besides poetry, he wrote screenplays and contributed columns to the student paper. While his college writings have drawn criticism from opponents, his campaign has brushed off the attacks as desperate attempts to distract from real issues. According to KTVU, a senior campaign consultant explained that the address listed on Swalwell’s campaign paperwork—his attorney’s office—was used due to “thousands of death threats,” and insisted that Swalwell has always maintained a residence in California’s Bay Area.
The controversy has also reignited discussion about Swalwell’s past connections. In 2020, he lost his seat on the House Intelligence Committee after revelations that Christine Fang, an alleged Chinese spy, had worked on his 2014 re-election campaign. However, a subsequent standards review resulted in no further action against him.
The poem’s reemergence is part of a broader effort by Gilbert to derail Swalwell’s campaign. In addition to publicizing the poem, Gilbert filed a legal petition challenging Swalwell’s eligibility for the governor’s race, claiming the congressman does not meet California’s residency requirement. Gilbert alleged that Swalwell’s campaign address was not his primary residence, but rather his attorney’s office, and accused him of declaring a Washington, D.C., home as his official address. “Eric – I saw the FEAR in your eyes when you recognized me at your Town Hall. Don’t be afraid, just drop out of the governor race! You are not eligible because you made D.C. your ‘principle residence’ on your mortgage and you have no CA home!” Gilbert posted on X.
Swalwell has pledged to contest the lawsuit, stating on Facebook, “Like all congressmen from CA, I live in CA and DC. This MAGA idiot also tried to smear the Obamas, Al Gore, and Elvis! They ignored him. But I’ll beat him in court.”
As if the poetry and residency issues weren’t enough, the Daily Mail and KTVU report that the Department of Justice opened an investigation in November 2025 into mortgage-related allegations involving Swalwell’s Washington, D.C., home, specifically reviewing loans and refinancing. At this time, no charges have been announced.
Swalwell’s gubernatorial ambitions put him in a crowded field that includes Democrat Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and conservative commentator Steve Hilton. The resurfacing of his college poetry and writings, while offering fodder for critics, hasn’t prompted any sign of retreat from the congressman. Instead, he’s using the moment to highlight what he sees as the absurdity of the attacks and to draw a contrast with the more substantive issues facing California.
As the campaign unfolds, voters will have to decide how much weight—if any—to give to the creative musings of a college student versus the qualifications of a seasoned lawmaker. For now, the poem stands as a curious footnote in the ever-colorful annals of California politics, a reminder that in the digital age, the past is never truly buried—and sometimes, it resurfaces in the most unexpected ways.