California state Sen. Aisha Wahab claimed a special election victory to replace former Rep. Eric Swalwell in Congress, a seat that opened after Swalwell resigned amid sexual assault and harassment accusations he denies.
Wahab defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez on Thursday to represent California's 14th Congressional District, which covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. She will serve out the remainder of Swalwell's term through January, though the two women will face each other again in a separate November election for the next full two-year term.
The win makes Wahab the first Afghan American to serve in Congress. She cast the result as proof that outside money could not dictate the outcome.
Swalwell had been running for California governor before ending his campaign and resigning from Congress in April. He left office after being accused of sexual assault and harassment, allegations he has denied. Criminal investigations into those allegations are continuing, the Associated Press reported.
The federal probe has escalated. Over the weekend, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport. Agents later searched his home in Washington, D.C., a person familiar with the matter told the AP on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Swalwell's attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
Swalwell's fall is part of a broader pattern of misconduct allegations on Capitol Hill. Rep. Jimmy Gomez separately faces a sexual assault accusation that has deepened scrutiny of how Congress polices its own members.
The specific federal agency behind the Swalwell searches has not been publicly identified, and no charges have been announced. The nature of the criminal investigation beyond the sexual assault and harassment accusations remains unclear.
The race drew heavy outside spending. Groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee poured millions into supporting Hernandez and spent thousands opposing Wahab in the final stretch of the campaign. Wahab had won the June primary decisively, but the general election attracted far more national interest, and cash.
The Israel-Gaza conflict shaped the contest. At a candidate forum in April, Wahab answered "yes" when asked whether she considered what is happening to the Palestinian people to be a genocide. Hernandez did not give a straight yes or no answer. Hernandez said Israel had a right to defend itself following the October 2023 attack by Hamas but added that "the destruction into Gaza has gone too far."
Wahab framed her victory as a statement that her district "cannot be bought." In a political environment where AIPAC-aligned spending has reshaped Democratic primaries across the country, the result stands out. Voters in a deep-blue Bay Area district chose the candidate those groups opposed.
The House Ethics Committee has opened probes into other members over misconduct, but Swalwell's case bypassed that internal process entirely, he resigned before the committee could act, and federal investigators stepped in.
Wahab has leaned on her biography throughout her political career. She won a Hayward City Council seat in 2018, becoming the first Afghan American elected to public office in the United States. In 2023, she authored a bill in the California state legislature to ban caste-based discrimination. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it, saying such discrimination was already covered by existing civil rights protections.
"From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream."
That was Wahab after her victory. She also pledged: "I will fight for this district that raised me."
Hernandez, for her part, did not concede the broader fight. She described herself as someone who keeps her promises.
"I've been a fighter my whole life, and when I promised the residents of CA-14 I would fight for them, I never gave up."
The November rematch will decide who holds the seat for a full two-year term, and AIPAC-affiliated spending could return in force. The question of whether outside money can flip the result in a district that just rejected it will be tested again in a matter of months.
Congressional misconduct has become a recurring theme in recent months. Rep. Chuck Edwards dropped his reelection bid after an ethics panel detailed inappropriate conduct with young female staffers, one of several cases that have eroded public trust in the institution.
Wahab now heads to Washington with a progressive record, housing affordability advocacy, a caste-discrimination bill, and a willingness to call events in Gaza a genocide, that will place her firmly on the left flank of the Democratic caucus. She arrives in a Congress already wrestling with how to handle members accused of misconduct, a problem that has prompted former staffers to launch anonymous review platforms so aides can rate their bosses.
Her term expires in January. Federal agents are searching her predecessor's home. And voters will be asked to weigh in on the same seat all over again in November. The seat changed hands because a congressman's conduct caught up with him. Whether the institution learns anything from it is another matter entirely.
