Until April 10, the general tenor of California’s contest to determine a successor to two-term governor Gavin Newsom had been low-key, even a bit sleepy. A large but far from star-studded field of eight Democrats and two Republicans had been slogging toward the June 3 nonpartisan top-two primary with no clear front-runner and all sorts of scenarios appearing possible, including a partisan “lockout” in which two members from one party (even the very unpopular GOP) might take both general-election spots.

But now the sudden implosion of Congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign over serial allegations of sexual misconduct toward staff has given the somnolent contest tons of attention while scrambling expectations. Swalwell officially threw in the towel on Sunday amid mass demands from supporters and staff that he withdraw, two days after the San Francisco Chronicle broke the story of his alleged misdeeds.

The congressman had been polling at or near the top of the field recently while slowly accumulating an impressive list of endorsements from prominent elected officials and unions, including the California Federation of Labor Unions and the SEIU. He was becoming the de facto candidate of the state’s Democratic........

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