The outcome of California’s special election to replace former Rep. Eric Swalwell may leave some Bay Area Democrats pining for the return of the disgraced congressman.
Far-left Afghan American California state Sen. Aisha Wahab (D) defeated establishment-backed Democrat candidate and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board member Melissa Hernandez, 53.1% to 46.9%.
Although the election was held on Tuesday, local officials continued to count ballots until Thursday.
The result was far closer than expected. Wahab and Hernandez were the top two finishers in the June special primary, with Wahab taking 42.8% of the vote to Hernandez’s 16.8%.
So, what happened in between? Establishment Democrats, alarmed at the prospect of another far-left Muslim candidate gaining a foothold in Congress, sprang into action. Millions poured into the race from AIPAC and other political action committees determined to keep another radical candidate from winning a seat in Congress.
The New York Times reported:
In the closing days of the race, several super PACs — including two with ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — spent millions on advertisements on television and social media targeting the district’s voters in the suburbs east of San Francisco.United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s super PAC, spent roughly $2.5 million, primarily denouncing Ms. Wahab.
Wahab will serve out the remainder of Swalwell’s term but will face voters again in November, when they will decide who holds the seat for the next two years. Although Wahab will have served for only two months by Election Day, she will nevertheless enjoy at least some of the advantages of incumbency.
The November contest is likely to be a rematch with Hernandez. And while it probably won’t alter the outcome, California’s newly redrawn congressional map will be in effect for the general election.
How radical is Wahab?
Although she is not a declared member of the Democratic Socialists of America, the California DSA explicitly urged voters to support her in the 2026 congressional race, calling her a “strong progressive voice.”
Like Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, she backs their entire platform.
In the clip below, socialist darling Hasan Piker runs through a list of key DSA policy priorities — from abolishing ICE and canceling student debt to a data center moratorium and a free Palestine — and Wahab signals her support for each one.
She wavers only slightly on cutting off all aid to Israel, noting that she supports humanitarian aid.
Piker smiles.
In the next video, Wahab boasts that despite California having a larger immigrant population than Texas, the state has seen only about one-quarter as many deportations. She attributes that “to the fact that we make it very, very hard for ICE to conduct their operations here.”
We don’t allow them on any state facility. We do not have our law enforcement work with ICE. We do not give them anybody that has been detained that may have a criminal record or be undocumented to ICE agents and much more.
So, the next congresswoman from California is proud that state officials not only refuse to enforce federal immigration law, but are actively working to thwart it.
CNN political strategist Mike Murphy recommends in the video below that when Wahab goes to Washington, D.C., she should “rent, not buy.” He warns that the general election in November will be a whole different ballgame.
He told his colleagues, “It may be a short term. Hernandez could come back.”
He points out that primaries are typically low-turnout affairs, and while CA-14 is a deep-blue district, Republicans still make up roughly a quarter of its electorate. Wahab’s commanding 26-point advantage in the special primary dwindled to just six points in the runoff.
With turnout likely to rise in November and more Republican voters added to the mix, the dynamics could shift considerably. And the millions spent against Wahab by pro-Israel super PACs ahead of the runoff may be dwarfed by what is coming over the next few months.
After the race was called on Thursday, Wahab issued a statement that read (in part): “I will fight for this district that raised me. From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream.”
The irony is hard to miss. Wahab invokes the American Dream even as she embraces a political agenda that would dramatically transform the country that made her own remarkable rise possible.
For now, she is headed to Congress. But a 26-point primary advantage that collapsed to six points in just two months suggests that CA-14 voters may already be having second thoughts. November will tell us whether Wahab’s victory marked the beginning of a new political era in the district — or merely a very brief detour.
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