California state Sen. Aisha Wahab will finish out the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) term after winning Tuesday’s special election runoff, according to the Associated Press. The AP called the race Thursday, and with 95 percent of ballots counted, Wahab led fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez by a margin of 53.1 percent to 46.9 percent.
The victory makes Wahab the first Afghan-American ever elected to the U.S. Congress, a milestone she also achieved at the local level when she became the first Afghan-American elected official in the country after winning a Hayward City Council seat in 2018.
Wahab and Hernandez advanced to the special runoff after finishing first and second in the June 16 special primary, which was triggered when Swalwell resigned in April amid multiple sexual assault allegations he has denied. Swalwell had also suspended his gubernatorial campaign before stepping down.
A Redemptive Win Against Big-Money Opposition
Wahab’s victory carries extra weight given the outside spending against her. Super PACs aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) reportedly poured millions of dollars into ads backing Hernandez and attacking Wahab. Despite that financial disadvantage, Wahab prevailed in the deep-blue 14th Congressional District, which covers parts of the East Bay.
“I’m very proud of this district for not listening to the hate-mongering and really knowing and believing the work that I’ve done,” Wahab told KQED on Tuesday night as she took a slight lead over Hernandez.
Hernandez, who serves as president of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board of directors and is a former mayor of Dublin, California, conceded after the AP called the race.
An Advocate for Immigrant and Tech Workers
Wahab’s platform has included a strong focus on immigrant communities and the tech workforce. In a recently surfaced interview with PunjabiTV, an Indian-American outlet, Wahab pledged to advocate for foreign H-1B visa workers.
“This is far more crucial than I think people understand … Why are we not training our next generation of leaders and technologists and doctors and nurses and so much more?” she said in the clip.
The special election was for the remainder of Swalwell’s term, which ends in January. Both Wahab and Hernandez will face off again in the November general election for a full two-year term, setting the stage for a rematch with high stakes for both the district’s representation and the national political landscape.
Wahab’s victory is a significant setback for AIPAC and its allies, who had invested heavily in Hernandez’s campaign. It also underscores the influence of progressive grassroots organizing in the district, which has been a Democratic stronghold for decades.
As Wahab prepares to take office, she will be sworn in as the first Afghan-American member of Congress, a historic moment for Afghan-Americans and a sign of the growing diversity of the nation’s legislative body.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/20/progressive-aisha-wahab-wins-special-election-treplace-former-rep-eric-swalwell/