Aisha Wahab Wins California Special Election

Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab has emerged victorious in the special election held in California’s 14th District. This win, as projected by NBC News, means Wahab will complete the term of former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Swalwell stepped down from Congress in April following accusations of sexual assault, which he has denied.

Wahab faced off against Melissa Hernandez, also a Democrat serving on the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors. The two advanced to the special election after leading the primary on June 16, where no candidate secured a majority.

Initial primary results showed Wahab gaining 43% of the vote, while Hernandez secured 17%. By Tuesday’s election, the gap had narrowed, with Wahab leading 53% to 47%, with 95% of the expected votes counted.

A pro-Israel super PAC, aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, invested about $2.5 million against Wahab in the final stages of the race.

Wahab criticized the influence of “AIPAC-linked dark-money PACs” on her campaign website. She has previously described Israel’s actions in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza as genocide. Meanwhile, Hernandez chose not to affirm whether Israel’s actions were genocide during an April forum.

Efforts by the pro-Israel group have seen mixed results nationally. While successful in helping candidates in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland, the group experienced setbacks in states like New Jersey and Illinois. Most notably, in Michigan, the AIPAC-related super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent over $30 million supporting Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in her Senate primary, where she lost to former public health official Abdul El-Sayed.