State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, is leading the special election for California’s 14th Congressional District.
Wahab is on the ballot along with former Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez, a Democrat who sits today on the board of Bay Area Rapid Transit. As of 9:30 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, Wahab had 32,149 votes or 51.35% support compared to Hernandez’s 30,457 votes or 48.65% support. The numbers are from the Official Election Site of Alameda County. The entire district is within the county, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Tuesday’s winner will replace U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-San Francisco Bay Area. Swalwell resigned from the House in April amid sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell also quit the race for governor of California.
Wahab and Hernandez squared off in two June primaries, but neither of them received more than 50% of the vote. That made Tuesday’s special election necessary. The winner will serve during the rest of Swalwell’s term, which ends Jan. 3.
But regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, Wahab and Hernandez will square off again in the Nov. 3 general election to determine who will serve during the term starting Jan. 3.
Neither Wahab nor Hernandez have responded to The Center Square’s requests for comment.
Affordability has been mentioned as a top issue for voters in the 14th Congressional District. Meanwhile, the candidates have wasted little time attacking one another. A recent press release on the Hernandez campaign website accused Wahab of “laundering corporate money into their campaign for Congress.” The Wahab campaign responded to the “political attacks” by pointing out that Hernandez lost two primary elections to Wahab by more than 20 percentage points. That’s confirmed by numbers from the California Secretary of State’s Office.