California lawmaker Aisha Wahab becomes first Afghan-American elected to US Congress

SACRAMENTO: California state Sen. Aisha Wahab will serve out the rest of former Rep.

Key points

• Swalwell, a Democrat who was running for California governor, concluded his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment.
• Wahab became the first Afghan American elected to public office in the U.S.
• Wahab and Hernandez will face off again in a separate November election determining who will serve the next full two-year term.
• At a candidate forum in April, Wahab answered "yes" when asked if she considered "what is happening to the Palestinian individuals" to be a genocide.
• Hernandez, a moderate Democrat, remarked she was proud to put up a competitive fight after Wahab's success in the primary.

SACRAMENTO: California state Sen. Aisha Wahab will serve out the rest of former Rep. Eric Swalwell's term after securing victory Thursday in a special election.

Swalwell, a Democrat who was running for California governor, concluded his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment. It he denies. Wahab will represent the state's 14th Congressional District. It covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, through Swalwell's term ending in January.

She will be the first Afghan American to serve in Congress. The progressive Democrat defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez even after a swell of spending by outside groups opposing Wahab in the race's final stretch. She remarked her victory indicates her district "cannot be bought."

"I will fight for this district that raised me, " Wahab remarked in an official note. "From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream."

For context, the conclusion of the race to replace Swalwell comes as criminal investigations continue into the sexual assault allegations he faces. Over the weekend, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and afterwards searched his home in Washington, D.C., according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Swalwell's attorney did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.

Wahab became the first Afghan American elected to public office in the U.S. When she won a Hayward City Council seat in 2018.

She has championed housing affordability and access in her time in the Legislature and throughout her campaign. She additionally wrote a bill in 2023 to ban caste-based discrimination. It garnered national attention. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it, saying such discrimination is already outlawed by civil rights protections.

Wahab won the June primary decisively, but outside spending in favor of her rival poured into the race ahead of the general election. Groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, spent millions into supporting Hernandez, and thousands into opposing Wahab.

Hernandez did not offer a straight yes or no answer. She remarked Israel had a right to defend itself after the October 2023 attack by Hamas but that "the destruction into Gaza has gone too far."

"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, " she remarked in an official note.

For now, california lawmaker Aisha Wahab becomes first Afghan-American elected to US Congress remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.