As the Aug. 18 special election to fill the remainder of former California Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell’s term approaches, Aisha Wahab, a Democratic state senator, and Melissa Hernandez, a former mayor of Dublin, Calif., are facing off in a race that has drawn millions of dollars in outside spending.
Wahab, who has accused Israel of genocide, has received nearly $600,000 in contributions and has nearly as much cash on hand as her opponent, with almost $147,000, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Hernandez has raised more than $1.5 million and has more than $176,000 cash on hand, per FEC data.
The Democratic state senator came in first in the primary with 52,961 votes (42.8%), and Hernandez came in second at 20,731 votes (16.8%), according to the Associated Press.
Wahab’s campaign website states that Hernandez has “denied the genocide in Gaza.” During an April candidate forum, both Wahab and Hernandez were asked to provide a yes-or-no answer to whether “what is happening to the Palestinian people is a genocide.”
Wahab said “yes.”
Hernandez said that “Israel had the right to defend itself” after Oct. 7 and to secure the release of the hostages, but “the destruction in Gaza has gone too far, and the people are paying the cost and so are the civilians.”
The spending has made the race a closely watched contest over the direction of the Democratic Party’s debate on Israel, even though foreign policy has not been the campaign’s central focus.
Hernandez has focused on her experience in local government, and Wahab has largely emphasized issues such as public safety.
Wahab’s campaign website states that Hernandez “is relying on misleading attacks and AIPAC-linked dark-money PACs to tear Aisha Wahab down.”
FEC data shows that the United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC, and Bold America, a super PAC that the United Democracy Project has backed, have spent more than $4.4 million in the race backing Hernandez and opposing Wahab.
On Aug. 13, J Street Action Fund, J Street’s affiliated super PAC, said that it is launching a “six-figure ad campaign” supporting Wahab.
The Aug. 18 election will determine who serves the remainder of Swalwell’s House term after the representative resigned in April following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The district will hold an election in November to determine who will represent the seat for the next full term. California’s election rules require a runoff when no candidate wins a majority in the special election.
