Political strategist Mike Madrid told CNN that the Democratic Party is having a “come to Jesus moment” following Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) being hit with sexual misconduct allegations.

Madrid joined CNN’s Laura Coates on Friday and Coates noted that the accusations against Swalwell — which he is denying — throw a major twist into California’s gubernatorial race where polls show Swalwell was a frontrunner for Democrats. She referenced a Politico poll showing Swalwell pulling 11%, with only Tom Steyer scoring more among Democrats.

Madrid argued Swalwell was a frontrunner thanks to President Donald Trump painting him as a “leader of Trump resistance.” Swalwell has been accused, according to reports by CNN and The San Francisco Chronicle, of sexually assaulting staffers. One former staffer alleged the congressman raped her.

“I think the Democratic Party really is having this come to Jesus moment where it needs to have a very robust discussion between as many candidates as possible to figure out what it is, what it stands for, and who’s going to be the standard bearer to start driving California forward. That argues for a bigger field, a bigger discussion,” he said.

Check out the exchange below:

LAURA COATES: I will note there is a range of accusations, one of which we’ve heard through Pamela Brown’s reporting, others that involved different conduct at issue. But the larger point, Mike, as we’re talking about — I mean, he has been steadfast at least even through tonight, that this did not happen, that he is denying the accusations. I obviously recognize as a former prosecutor that we are in a presumed innocent world, at least in a court of law. Now, the court of public opinion has a very different take on a lot of issues similar to this. And polls suggested that he was one of the frontrunners in the race for governor. He has cited his race for governor, contextualizing what he calls the accusations, whether he drops out or not. How do you see this impacting the overall race for governor of California?

MIKE MADRID: Yeah, look, that is a great question. I think it is fair to characterize Eric Swalwell as having been the frontrunner for the governor of California. The polls were bouncing between, you know, one or two points, but he clearly was being called out by Donald Trump as kind of the leader of Trump resistance, which has, you know, untold benefits to be had by a Democratic candidate seeking to separate himself in a multi-candidate field. And most of the recent polling up until today was showing that that consolidation was starting to happen. Democrats were beginning to rally around his campaign and kind of back him as sort of this leader of the resistance as California Democratic leaders are kind of expected to be. But you’re asking the right question, which is what happens now? There are so many questions about the state of the Democratic Party in California. This is a state that should have three or maybe four future presidential aspirants running for governor, but there’s nothing even remotely like that. This does open up, I believe, this next tier of candidates where you could have six or seven viable candidates running in the Democratic primary that could emerge in the next couple of weeks. And the unfortunate part is you have a Democratic Party chair, who’s also a friend, asking people to get out of the race. I think the Democratic Party really is having this come to Jesus moment where it needs to have a very robust discussion between as many candidates as possible to figure out what it is, what it stands for, and who’s going to be the standard bearer to start driving California forward. That argues for a bigger field, a bigger discussion. Use this as an opportunity to open up and not narrow it down and try to predetermine who those candidates are going to be.

Watch above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!