Candidates fighting for Rep. Eric Swalwell’s seat locked in a knife-edge battle as polls close
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The special election to fill the seat of now-disgraced Eric Swalwell is still too close to call more than 12 hours after polls closed.
Swalwell resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations from multiple women. The Democrat, who has denied the accusations, also gave up his bid to be California’s next governor.
Now, two Democrats are neck and neck in the vote counts to take the seat of the 14th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of the Bay Area like Hayward and Fremont before stretching east out to to Livermore.
With 62% of the votes in as of 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, State Sen. Aisha Wahab (D), a progressive, has 51% of the vote share at 33,399 votes. She is ahead of Melissa Hernandez, a moderate Democrat who sits on the Bay Area Rapid Transit board by 1,356 votes. Hernandez has 49% of the vote share.
The special election has been a contentious one at times.
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Super PACs, including two with ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, have flooded the race with money against Wahab despite her winning handily in the primary. The Wahab campaign has reportedly faced a $2.9 million onslaught of spending against her in recent weeks, seemingly giving Hernandez a boost.
Wahab happens to be the first Muslim elected to the California Senate. She had said “yes” to a question on labeling Palestine’s plight a genocide during a candidate forum in April.
The ads for and against Wahab have not focused on the Middle East but rather on a myriad various issues. The two campaigns have also accused each other of election-related violations.
Wahab asked regulators to investigate a rash of social media posts that she claimed made false statements about her and may have been spread by fake bot accounts.
Meanwhile, Hernandez alleged that Wahab unlawfully transferred money from her state-level campaign account through a county Democratic committee to hide corporate donations.
There’s also been some drama over Wahab not signing onto an agreement spearheaded by California’s Democratic congressional delegation, which wanted a caretaker to serve out Swalwell’s remaining term, Politico reported.
That even led one veteran congressmember, Zoe Lofgren, to come out publicly to oppose Wahab and accuse her of acting selfishly.
Wahab refused to comply with the caretaker agreement, forcing Tuesday’s election to decide that matter while the race for the next term after goes on.