Wahab defeats BART Director Melissa Hernandez
California state lawmaker Aisha Wahab won Thursday’s special election in the state’s 14th Congressional District to serve out the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s House term, which ends in January. Wahab defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez in the race covering parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, according to the Associated Press.
The special election filled the seat Swalwell, a Democrat, left in April. Swalwell had been running for California governor; he ended his campaign and resigned from Congress after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment. He has denied the allegations.
Wahab has focused on housing affordability and access as legislative priorities. She authored a 2023 bill to ban caste-based discrimination in California that garnered national attention. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, saying caste-based discrimination is already outlawed by California’s existing civil rights protections.