{"id":6257,"date":"2026-08-03T23:38:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T23:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257"},"modified":"2026-08-03T23:38:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T23:38:02","slug":"special-election-runoff-for-swalwells-seat-pits-wahab-against-hernandez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257","title":{"rendered":"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

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\u2019s term in Congress through the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Read more 49ers\u2019 Ji\u2019Ayir Brown praises Raheem Morris\u2019 defense, pans past schemes<\/a><\/p>\n

Residents of the East Bay\u2019s 14th Congressional District will need to decide between state Sen. Aisha Wahab or BART Board President Melissa Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to remind voters not to wait to return their ballots,\u201d Cynthia Cornejo, Alameda County\u2019s interim Registrar of Voters, told this news organization. \u201cVote now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 allegations he has since denied.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s two previous elections.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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\u2019s 17%.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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 \u2013 a group that has been accused of trying to influence American politics on behalf of Israeli interests.<\/p>\n

Read more San Jose seeks public input on data center regulations<\/a><\/p>\n

Hernandez told this news organization via email Monday that she is \u201cproud of the coalition behind this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the independent expenditures, I have no say over them. That is the law. I see them when you do and I cannot direct them,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cWhat I can tell you is that I have a record of creating jobs, building housing, and expanding transit \u2014 and that isn\u2019t going to change for anybody now or in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evan Brown, executive director of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group that has previously endorsed Wahab\u2019s bid for Congress, said\u00a0money spent in support of Hernandez ties her politically to pro-Israel interest groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an AIPAC bundling operation,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty clearly documented pattern of how they are moving money through different entities. They\u2019ve done this through district after district.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cdon\u2019t want another Sacramento politician.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to have the endorsement and support from BOLD America, who want to see another strong Latina leader in Congress. I\u2019m the daughter of migrant farmworkers, and there are very few Latinas or moms in that room \u2014 so I\u2019m glad that they\u2019re supporting our effort,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s very clear that outside interests are trying to buy this race,\u201d Wahab told this news organization Monday. \u201cI truly believe in doing what\u2019s right for the people. I trust the voters. I trust the people will see through this. I think it\u2019s very clear that this amount of money is trying to influence our election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campaign finance records show Wahab\u2019s donors and supporters are largely labor-aligned and local.<\/p>\n

Wahab said she\u2019s been hard at work on the campaign trail hosting town hall discussions, knocking door-to-door and meeting constituents in the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to continue representing this district and learning their concerns. I will continue to advocate for them as best as possible,\u201d Wahab said. \u201cIt\u2019s very clear that I will stand up and do what\u2019s right, not necessarily what\u2019s politically convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more San Jose senior residential hub lands buyer for $100 million-plus<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Aisha Wahab and BART President Melissa Hernandez will go head-to-head on Aug. 18<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSpecial election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez - 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=6257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sen. Aisha Wahab and BART President Melissa Hernandez will go head-to-head on Aug. 18\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T23:38:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T23:38:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257\"},\"wordCount\":940,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257\",\"name\":\"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T23:38:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp\",\"width\":1631,\"height\":1165},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6257#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez - Next City Digest","og_description":"Sen. Aisha Wahab and BART President Melissa Hernandez will go head-to-head on Aug. 18","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-03T23:38:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez","datePublished":"2026-08-03T23:38:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257"},"wordCount":940,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257","name":"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-03T23:38:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cc8da6c20d0b7c97f6164efcd8826d96.webp","width":1631,"height":1165},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6257#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Special election runoff for Swalwell’s seat pits Wahab against Hernandez"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}