{"id":2075,"date":"2026-06-14T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T11:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2075"},"modified":"2026-06-14T11:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T11:35:08","slug":"special-election-tuesday-to-fill-swalwell-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2075","title":{"rendered":"Special election Tuesday to fill Swalwell term"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Voters on Tuesday will cast ballots to replace Eric Swalwell for the second time in two weeks \u2014 this time in a special election for a temporary term.<\/p>\n

Read more Three-bedroom home in Milpitas sells for $1.1 million<\/a><\/p>\n

In what could be the second of four elections to replace Swalwell this year, voters must choose between a list of 11 candidates, including those who ran to represent Congressional District 14 in the June 2 primary. The district covers parts of the East Bay and Tri-Valley, including cities such as Fremont, Hayward, Dublin, and Livermore.<\/p>\n

Swalwell unceremoniously bowed out of public office and a gubernatorial campaign earlier this year following allegations of sexual misconduct with multiple women, leaving both the rest of his current term and the next full term up for grabs.<\/p>\n

Repeat candidates running in both primaries include State Sen. Aisha Wahab, with latest returns showing her with over 38% of the votes from the earlier primary, likely sending her to the November general election. BART Board President Melissa Hernandez is also running in the special election, after returns showed her in second place with about 17% of the June 2 vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe voters have clearly spoken,\u201d Wahab told this news organization Friday. But, she said, \u201cI\u2019m one of those people that always waits to see what the final results are.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the June 2 election results hold, Wahab and Hernandez could face off in November to decide who permanently takes the job. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the special election Tuesday, the top two candidates will face off in another special general election on Aug. 18 to fill the rest of the temporary term.<\/p>\n

Wahab\u2019s campaign finance records show substantial support from local labor and small, working class interests. But records also show that wealthy corporate political organizations are heavily backing Hernandez, whose campaign reported receiving over $1.6 million in independent expenditure support from multiple political action committees.<\/p>\n

Wahab called Hernandez\u2019s backers problematic.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLet\u2019s just be very honest what it is \u2014 I think that there are special election groups that are deeply interested in buying an election,\u201d Wahab said. \u201cWhen you have a candidate that\u2019s for sale, this is what you typically see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bold America PAC, a financial interest arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, recently reported spending $125,000 in support of Hernandez. Before that, Bold America spent another total $439,921 on ads favoring Hernandez. Bold America is a super PAC, which spends millions to support Democrat candidates in different elections, and can independently spend unlimited amounts of money.<\/p>\n

Another super PAC behind Hernandez is Project 218, based out of Washington, D.C., which reported spending $474,525 in political contributions on May 27.<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes June 14, 2026: Lucy Hale, it\u2019s your turn to excel<\/a><\/p>\n

Comparably, other groups spent over $517,300 to support Wahab\u2019s campaign, including the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee and other small labor-aligned organizations.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese organizations are damaging our democracy. Melissa is the candidate that is the prime example of that,\u201d Wahab said. \u201cThe problem is the voters are smart. Voters can see through all of the money and see who\u2019s really trying to help regular people out versus who is just interested in being a yes man to big corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez disagreed. She said she has no control over what groups spend their money on.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s buying me. I\u2019ve never been bought out,\u201d Hernandez told this news organization Friday. \u201cI have nothing to do with independent expenditures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez said she did not review much of her campaign\u2019s latest reports on independent expenditures, claiming that she\u2019s instead focused her efforts on campaigning and meeting voters. She also spoke critically of Wahab\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cAisha Wahab is an extreme far-left legislator,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThe people who live in this district are not. Whatever you get in the primary is not what you\u2019re going to get in the general election. The general election is going to be, in my opinion, a different outcome. But we have a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other repeat candidates appearing on Tuesday\u2019s special election ballot include Democrat Rakhi Israni, a first-time political candidate who loaned her campaign over $1 million of her own money; and Republicans Wendy Huang and Dena Maldonado. Latest returns show Huang received about 13% of the June 2 primary vote, followed by Israni\u2019s 12.95%, and Maldonado\u2019s 12.14%.<\/p>\n

Hernandez and Israni were two of several candidates enlisted as part of a failed Democrat plan to clear the field for the special election and allow a \u201ccaretaker\u201d candidate to temporarily fill Swalwell\u2019s seat for the rest of the year. The plan, pieced together primarily by San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren, collapsed after candidates filed to run anyway moments before the filing deadline.<\/p>\n

The other new candidates on Tuesday\u2019s ballot include Democrats Alisha Cordes, Sheriene Ridenour and Jot Thiara, Republicans Tom Wong and Jack Wu, and independent Victor Zevallos.<\/p>\n

Read more The Knicks are NBA champions: Brunson scores 45, and New York takes first title in 53 years<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repeat candidates include Sen. Aisha Wahab and BART President Melissa Hernandez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSpecial election Tuesday to fill Swalwell term - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2075\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Special election Tuesday to fill Swalwell term - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Repeat candidates include Sen. 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