Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress in disgrace two months ago. On Tuesday, Bay Area voters moved to hand his seat to the next “West Coast AOC.”
Radical State Sen. Aisha Wahab led the crowded special primary field in California’s 14th Congressional District with roughly 34% of the vote, with Melissa Hernandez finishing second at approximately 17%.
Because no candidate cleared the 50% threshold needed for an outright win, the two Democrats will advance to a special general election runoff on August 18 to fill the remainder of Swalwell’s term through the end of 2026.
Conservative groupss have been tracking Wahab since 2019, when the East Bay Express dubbed her the “West Coast AOC” during her first congressional run.
“Republican groups all over the country are trying to identify AOC-like candidates in order to highlight their radical, far-left views and then fundraise off them,” Republican consultant Jason Scalese explained at the time.
CalMatters describes Wahab as “a progressive known for being unafraid to take big swings on bills to strengthen renter and worker protections.” Courage California, one of the state’s most radical far-Left organizations, backed her. As a results, so did California Democratic Party primary voters.
The district she is about to represent gave Kamala Harris 65.8% of the vote in 2024. Swalwell typically won re-election with roughly 75%. The seat was never going to go Republican… but under Wahab, it is likely to become a significant socialist voice in the House.
When Republicans tried to warn that Wahab was a radical before she had even gotten started in 2019, she embraced it.
“For whatever reason, whoever is doing this believes I’m a threat to the status quo,” she said at the time.
Now she’s about to be a member of Congress.