Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez

Monday marked the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 18 special general election to decide who will fill the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s term in Congress through the end of the year.

Residents of the East Bay’s 14th Congressional District will need to decide between state Sen. Aisha Wahab or BART Board President Melissa Hernandez.

“We want to remind voters not to wait to return their ballots,” Cynthia Cornejo, Alameda County’s interim Registrar of Voters, told this news organization. “Vote now.”

About 431,000 registered voters, so far, are eligible to participate in the special election, Cornejo said. District 14 covers parts of the East Bay and Tri-Valley, including cities such as Fremont, Hayward, Dublin and Livermore.

The Aug. 18 election will be the third of four this year to decide who will replace Swalwell, who left public office after several women accused him of sexual misconduct during his tenure in Congress – allegations he has since denied.

Mail-in voting for the special general election began July 20. There also are 28 different 24-hour drop-off boxes available throughout the district through election day for voters.

Seven vote centers will open for in-person voting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Saturday, with another seven opening Aug. 15 through election day.

As mail-in ballots start to trickle in, Hernandez continues to field sizable outside financial support. Meanwhile, Wahab has largely outperformed her in this year’s two previous elections.

In the June 16 special election, Wahab secured about 43% of the vote, while Hernandez took nearly 17%. In the June 2 primary to fill the full term starting next year, Wahab received about 38% of the vote to Hernandez’s 17%.

Campaign finance records show Hernandez has received a steady flow of support in both direct donations and millions in digital and tv ad support from independent expenditures by wealthy political action committees.

According to an Aug. 1 campaign finance report, Hernandez received over $85,000 in direct donations between July 30 and July 31 from donors who all live outside of her district, including in states such as Texas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and New York.

Records also show over $1 million in support from Bold America PAC, a financial interest arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It has spent over half a million dollars on ads favoring Hernandez.

According to campaign finance records through the Federal Election Commission, Bold America PAC received money from the United Democracy Project PAC, a pro-Israel aligned arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – a group that has been accused of trying to influence American politics on behalf of Israeli interests.

Hernandez told this news organization via email Monday that she is “proud of the coalition behind this campaign.”

“On the independent expenditures, I have no say over them. That is the law. I see them when you do and I cannot direct them,” Hernandez said. “What I can tell you is that I have a record of creating jobs, building housing, and expanding transit — and that isn’t going to change for anybody now or in Congress.”

Evan Brown, executive director of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group that has previously endorsed Wahab’s bid for Congress, said money spent in support of Hernandez ties her politically to pro-Israel interest groups.

“This is an AIPAC bundling operation,” Brown said. “It’s a pretty clearly documented pattern of how they are moving money through different entities. They’ve done this through district after district.”

Hernandez said, however, critics like Brown have the record wrong, and that she is not tied to any pro-Israel interests. She said the money spent in support of her shows people “don’t want another Sacramento politician.”

“I’m proud to have the endorsement and support from BOLD America, who want to see another strong Latina leader in Congress. I’m the daughter of migrant farmworkers, and there are very few Latinas or moms in that room — so I’m glad that they’re supporting our effort,” Hernandez said. “I find it insulting to imply that an organization supporting Latinos in Congress is an arm of any other organization, and that Latinos do not have their own agency.”

Hernandez also received tens of thousands of dollars in independent expenditure support from PACs recently formed in July, including the Alameda Come Together PAC and the Safer Alameda County PAC.

Records do not yet show who funded or opened the two groups, though they spent over a quarter of a million dollars combined since July 16 on ads and mailers in support of Hernandez.

“I think that it’s very clear that outside interests are trying to buy this race,” Wahab told this news organization Monday. “I truly believe in doing what’s right for the people. I trust the voters. I trust the people will see through this. I think it’s very clear that this amount of money is trying to influence our election.”

Campaign finance records show Wahab’s donors and supporters are largely labor-aligned and local.

Wahab said she’s been hard at work on the campaign trail hosting town hall discussions, knocking door-to-door and meeting constituents in the district.

“I’m going to continue representing this district and learning their concerns. I will continue to advocate for them as best as possible,” Wahab said. “It’s very clear that I will stand up and do what’s right, not necessarily what’s politically convenient.”