Progressive Aisha Wahab wins California special election for US House seat

Progressive Democrat Aisha Wahab has secured a seat in the US House of Representatives, winning a special election for California's East Bay district formerly held by Eric Swalwell. The victory followed a contentious intra-party battle for the seat, which became vacant after Swalwell resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations, which he has denied.

Wahab, a state senator, entered the race as a frontrunner, backed by the state Democratic party, Our Revolution, labor unions, and the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta. She had comfortably won the primary for the remaining months of Swalwell's term, leading her opponent by over 20 points. However, the general election race proved unexpectedly tight.

The campaign saw a significant influx of funding from Super PACs associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which heavily supported her opponent, BART board president Lateefah Simon. By Thursday afternoon, with 92% of votes counted, Wahab held a lead of just over six points, a much narrower margin than anticipated.

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there had been a sudden surge of critical ads that had misrepresented her record. She described the Super Pacs’ involvement as election interference, and said they were attempting to buy the seat.

Reports indicated that Super PACs spent over $5 million in weeks leading up to the election, primarily on pro-Simon ads and attacks against Wahab. Track AIPAC, a watchdog group, reported that the lobby alone spent nearly $6.4 million to support Simon. Wahab, who is the first Muslim woman and Afghan American elected to the California legislature, criticized the spending as election interference and an attempt to "buy the seat."

The race also saw internal Democratic party friction. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, chair of California's Democratic delegation, endorsed Simon, citing Wahab's stance on electing a caretaker candidate to fill Swalwell's seat quickly. However, the progressive wing of the party remained steadfast in its support for Wahab, with former progressive caucus chair Amar Shergill calling Lofgren's endorsement "astounding."

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Lofgren’s actions were “astounding”