Aisha Wahab secures California House seat

First Muslim woman and Afghan American in California legislature

SACRAMENTO — California state Sen. Aisha Wahab secured victory Thursday in the race to fill the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell’s House term, with the Associated Press and The Guardian projecting her win over Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez in California’s 14th Congressional District. The special election was held Tuesday.

Swalwell, a Democrat who was running for California governor, ended his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment; he has denied the allegations.

Wahab, the first Muslim woman and Afghan American elected to the California legislature, won the special-election primary by more than 20 points over Hernandez, who is president of the Bay Area Rapid Transit board of directors. The district covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.

While Wahab held a significant lead throughout the race, Hernandez’s campaign received a late boost from super PACs linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which poured money into the final weeks of advertising. Earlier in the month, those super PACs spent more than $5 million on pro-Hernandez and anti-Wahab ads, according to reports. Track AIPAC, which monitors the lobby’s spending on U.S. politicians, reported the group spent nearly $6.4 million to support Hernandez.

With 92% of votes counted Thursday afternoon, Wahab led Hernandez by just over six points — a closer result than the primary margins had suggested.

Wahab said there had been a sudden surge of critical ads that misrepresented her record, and described the super PAC involvement as election interference, saying the groups were attempting to buy the seat. She was backed by the state Democratic Party, Our Revolution, labor unions, local officials and state Attorney General Rob Bonta.

The race drew national attention in the final stretch after Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chair of California’s Democratic delegation, endorsed Hernandez, saying Wahab did not back an effort to elect a caretaker candidate to fill Swalwell’s seat as quickly as possible. The progressive wing of the party strongly supported Wahab; Amar Shergill, a former chair of the progressive caucus of the California Democratic Party, called Lofgren’s actions “astounding.”

Wahab, who has championed housing affordability and access, also wrote a bill in 2023 to ban caste-based discrimination that drew national attention. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, saying such discrimination was already outlawed by existing civil rights protections.