California Voters Pick Eric Swalwell’s Replacement

• August 21, 2026

U.S. House candidate, California state Sen. Aisha Wahab speaks to the media during an election-night watch party at Firefighters Local 1909 on August 18, 2026 in Hayward, California. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

An Afghan American who accused Israel of “genocide” won Thursday night’s special election runoff in California to replace disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell.

State Sen. Aisha Wahab bested her opponent, Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez, by roughly six percentage points in the race for California’s 14th Congressional district, the Associated Press declared Thursday.

While Wahab will serve for the remainder of this term, the two will face off again in November for the next term beginning January 2027.

Wahab ran a campaign focused on “fighting corporate greed,” and supported policies such as universal child care and Medicare for All, as well as abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

She has previously accused Israel of committing genocide and vowed to cut off its funding. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and its affiliated super PACs spent millions of dollars on targeted ads against Wahab.

The candidate secured endorsements from Our Revolution, a liberal group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as well as leftist House Democrat Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC. She was also endorsed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis.

Wahab replaces Swalwell, the disgraced Democrat who resigned from his seat and dropped out of the state gubernatorial race earlier this year following allegations of sexual assault.

Wahab and Hernandez were the finalists in the June 16 special primary, advancing to Thursday’s runoff after neither received 50% of the vote.

Pedro Rodriguez | Journalism Fellow

Pedro Boccalato Rodriguez-Aparicio is a journalism fellow at the Daily Signal.

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