What you need to know: Eric Swalwell

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., officially announced his 2020 campaign for president, joining a crowded field of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.

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Update 8:15 p.m. EDT April 8: Swalwell announced his campaign during an appearance Monday on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

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.”

Original story: U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell appears poised to throw his hat into the 2020 presidential race, telling CNN Wednesday he's "getting pretty close" to announcing his intentions.

“It’s just right now a family decision at this point,” Swalwell said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“You’ve got to put in place how your family’s going to handle this,” he said.

Swalwell was elected to the House out of California’s 15th District in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

He was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence at the beginning of the 115th Congress last year. He has also served on the Science, Space and Technology Committee, the Subcommittee on Energy and the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.

Swalwell is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and was the deputy district attorney for Alameda County, California, from 2006 to 2012.

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 have two young children.

Cox Media Group