Progressive wins special election to fill Swalwell's California House seat
The Hill · C · trust 69/100
Comments: by Caroline Vakil - 08/20/26 6:29 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Caroline Vakil - 08/20/26 6:29 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING Progressive California state Sen. Aisha Wahab (D) is projected to defeat Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez in the special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) term in the House, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Swalwell, once seen as the front-runner in the California governor’s race, dropped out from the contest and left his seat amid sexual assault allegations, which the congressman has denied.
Wahab and Hernandez placed into the special election following the initial June primary.
Wahab’s victory is not entirely surprising given that the progressive handily led Hernandez in the primary for the special election by 26 percentage points.
The two are also vying for the full two-year term for the Alameda County-based 14th Congressional District; Wahab led Hernandez in the primary for the full two-year term by 21 points.
Wahab’s win also marks a major defeat for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) super PAC, which was one of several groups to spend in the race to support Hernandez and oppose Wahab.
The race has notably seen large outside spending for a reliably Democratic House seat: United Democracy Project (UDP), AIPAC’s super PAC, has spent roughly $2.5 million to support Hernandez and oppose Wahab. Bold America, which was launched by several former members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and whose group has received money from UDP, has spent about $1.8 million .
Safer Alameda County PAC has separately spent just shy of $500,000 .
Meanwhile, a separate group, American Priorities, has spent about $100,000 to support Wahab and oppose Hernandez. The super PAC for the progressive Jewish group J Street has also spent just more than $100,000 to support Wahab.
Support over Israel has become an unexpected focal point in the race with Wahab opposing unconditional aid to Israel and deeming the events unfolding in Gaza a “genocide.”
During a candidate forum, Hernandez had declined to call the events in Gaza a “genocide,” saying “Israel had the right to defend itself” following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel. However, she added that “the destruction into Gaza has gone too far.”
The race also became increasingly personal and nasty. A supporter of Hernandez directed a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) complaint toward Wahab, alleging that her senatorial committee gave money to a county local party that then turned around and spent it toward her congressional bid.
Wahab told The Hill she hasn’t heard from the FEC and said that “until the FEC actually takes action, this is nothing more than a political allegation being pushed by our opponents.” Alameda County Democratic Central Committee said in a statement that it was aware of the complaint and maintained that it has been “in compliance with federal election laws.”
Meanwhile, Wahab has launched her own FEC complaint after seeing a number of social media posts her campaign has called defamatory. Her campaign is looking to see where those posts are being created to influence her primary and whether they should be reported as such.
Wahab and Hernandez will face off again in November for the full two-year term.
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