Voters in a swath of the US state of California’s Bay Area are heading to the polls Tuesday to determine which Democrat will replace former Representative Eric Swalwell to represent the state’s 14th Congressional District. State Senator Aisha Wahab and local transit official Melissa Hernandez are facing off in a race that has become increasingly expensive and combative. Wahab and Hernandez both advanced to Tuesday’s special election after they garnered roughly 38 and 17 percent support, respectively, during a nonpartisan primary held in June.
Under California’s unique “jungle primary” system, the two candidates with the most votes advance if neither receives more than 50 percent of the vote. Swalwell, who spent more than a decade in Congress before mounting a run for California governor earlier this year, resigned in April following multiple allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied. Polls are open for voters from 7am to 8pm local time (14:00 Tuesday – 02:00 Wednesday GMT).
Once considered the inevitable successor, Wahab has contended against a flood of outside money. Super PACs, including some affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), have spent millions of dollars on advertisements to sink Wahab’s candidacy and boost Hernandez in the final weeks of the race. One such AIPAC-affiliated group, the United Democracy Project, spent $1.2m on the race in August in support of Hernandez and in opposition to Wahab, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Another group spent $1.7m on the race. Collectively, outside groups have spent about $4.1m on the race since mid-July. About $3.7m was spent to benefit Hernandez’s campaign, compared with just shy of $400,000 to benefit Wahab’s.
Wahab, an Afghan American who is the first Muslim woman elected to California’s state Senate, has called out Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and pushed legislation condemning alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians and captives held by Hamas. Hernandez’s campaign is attacking Wahab for her legislative record on criminal penalties. Wahab last week said she plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over claims of “unprecedented” election interference on social media by outside groups like AIPAC.
Semafor reported that a supporter of Hernandez’s campaign has filed a separate FEC complaint against Wahab, alleging the lawmaker received an “illegal and unreported in-kind contribution” from a local Democratic Party. Wahab, who has received the California Democratic Party’s endorsement, told the outlet the complaint was “deliberately misrepresenting” the party’s support for her. The boundaries of the 14th Congressional District were redrawn as part of a new congressional map approved by voters in a 2025 statewide ballot measure known as Proposition 50.
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