Around New England

In NH, California Democratic Congressman Hints At 2020 Presidential Bid

November 2, 2018

The Portsmouth Herald reports Friday that U.S. Rep. Eric Smalwell, a California Democrat known for propagating collusion theories regarding 2016 Trump campaign and the Russians, said he is waiting until the mid-terms to decide whether he will run for president in 2020.

Smalwell, quoted by Herald reporter Paul Steinhauser, said “I want to see how we do in the midterms, kind of take a pulse of the country. See where the country is […] It’s a big decision. But I would expect that decision would happen right at the turn of the year.”

The comments were made during a campaign event at the Portsmouth home of NH Democrat and state senator Martha Fuller Clark, of NH Senate District 21, who is seeking reelection November 6.

Smalwell, 37, is a 3-term congressman serving California’s 15th Congressional District. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and has frequently appeared on TV news shows claiming there is evidence the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia to help Donald Trump win the White House in 2016.

The New Boston Post notes that Martha Fuller Clark’s campaign website urges NH voters to “Get out and vote!,” followed by, in the site’s second sentence, “Our democracy is currently under attack for we have a president who is complicit with foreign attempts to interfere in our democratic processes.”

The New Boston Post is not aware of any claims Russians colluded with the Trump campaign in 2016 to interfere in any state election; nor is the Post aware of any current effort to interfere in NH’s 2018 election.