{"id":7978,"date":"2026-08-30T05:39:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T05:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7978"},"modified":"2026-08-30T05:39:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T05:39:21","slug":"democratic-leader-condemns-aipac-linked-ads-and-party-opposition-to-wahab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7978","title":{"rendered":"Democratic leader condemns AIPAC-linked ads and party opposition to Wahab"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As state Sen. Aisha Wahab prepares to be sworn in as the first Afghan American elected to Congress, finishing the term of disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, a local Democratic leader is criticizing the role that outside spending ties to pro-Israel interests has played in the race between Wahab and BART Board President Melissa Hernandez.<\/p>\n

Read more He posed as a 49ers player. Feds say he and an accomplice defrauded 26 women of $1.3 million<\/a><\/p>\n

Igor Tregub, chairman of the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee, called ads attacking Wahab that were financed by money tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, \u201cdogwhistles,\u201d and said he was \u201cdisgusted\u201d by them. The ads have targeted Wahab\u2019s stances and records on persecuting sex offenders, public safety and crime, housing and affordability \u2014 attacks she\u2019s denied and pushed back against.<\/p>\n

He said he was pleased the ads failed to deliver the race for Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was glad to see at the end of the day that that level of money was wasted in our district,\u201d Tregub said.<\/p>\n

Some voters also were displeased with a swarm of negative ads that surged into the Congressional District 14 race leading up to the Aug. 18 special election runoff \u2013 both against Wahab and in favor of Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was problematic for me,\u201d Greg Humpa, a 62-year-old Hayward resident, told Bay Area News Group on Election Day at Hayward City Hall.<\/p>\n

Humpa said he didn\u2019t like Hernandez\u2019s pro-Israel affiliated financial backers because he doesn\u2019t support the country\u2019s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. He said he voted for Wahab.<\/p>\n

In the Aug. 18 runoff, Wahab secured 53% of the vote to Hernandez\u2019s 47%. Nearly a month earlier, in the special primary election on June 16 with a crowded field of candidates, Wahab received 43% of the vote to Hernandez\u2019s 17%.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWahab dodged a bullet. But Hernandez demonstrated that she is very vulnerable,\u201d Dan Schnur, a political expert, told Bay Area News Group. \u201cIf AIPAC and business interests decided to spend as heavily for the general election as they did in August, it\u2019s entirely possible that the outcome could be reversed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overcoming the deep pockets of her opponent\u2019s backers will be key for Wahab in November, Schnur said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though she won\u2019t be an incumbent for very long, there are still significant advantages that come with incumbency. So Wahab needs to both solidify her existing rapport, but also try to find ways to demonstrate to Hernandez\u2019s financial backers that this wouldn\u2019t be a good use of their money,\u201d Schnur said. \u201cThey\u2019ve already spent a great deal of money and come up short, but it does appear to be a winnable race if they want to double down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swalwell, who is currently entangled in an ongoing FBI criminal investigation, abandoned his East Bay district spanning parts of southern Alameda County and the Tri-Valley and a gubernatorial campaign earlier this year after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

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Both Wahab and Hernandez will face off again in a Nov. 3 rematch in the runoff election for the new full term \u2014 this time with Wahab running as the incumbent congresswoman.<\/p>\n

Independent groups have so far spent more than $5 million in support of Hernandez, including the AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project. The group independently spent over $2.4 million on ads in favor of Hernandez and opposing Wahab in the two weeks prior to the Aug. 18 special election, according to financial disclosures.<\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Reject lawsuit targeting Islamic culture<\/a><\/p>\n

Hernandez has repeatedly refused to respond to Bay Area News Group inquiries about her financial backers and whether she has any ties to AIPAC.<\/p>\n

The ads didn\u2019t sway Pleasanton voter Joe Johal, 61, who voted for Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has proven herself over the years to work on the issues that are relevant,\u201d Johal said.<\/p>\n

Tregub also took issue with Democratic leaders who went against the party\u2019s endorsement of Wahab and directly campaigned for Hernandez \u2013 namely representatives Zoe Lofgren, Pete Aguilar and Nancy Pelosi, who all lobbied Wahab earlier in the race to step aside and allow a placeholder candidate in the special election to fill the remainder of Swalwell\u2019s term and avoid a runoff.<\/p>\n

A day before the Aug. 18 election, Lofgren posted a video criticizing Wahab for refusing to go along with the Democrats\u2019 plan, and urged voters to support Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is far from what should happen,\u201d Tregub said. \u201cMy heartfelt hope and goal is for that not to happen, now that there has been a determinative election outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lofgren did not return a request for comment on this story. Representatives for Aguilar\u2019s and Pelosi\u2019s offices did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.<\/p>\n

Wahab isn\u2019t the only candidate who has had to overcome pro-Israel and AIPAC-affiliated money to win an election.<\/p>\n

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive and critic of Israel, recently overcame $30 million in AIPAC spending to beat Rep. Haley Stevens to become the first Muslim to win a major party\u2019s primary for Senate. In Missouri, money from the United Democracy Project aided incumbent Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell\u2019s victory in a primary against Cori Bush, a former congresswoman and progressive.<\/p>\n

Paul Mitchell, an elections data expert and vice president of Political Data Inc., said another important factor that could influence the Congressional District 14 race in November is the district\u2019s new boundaries, which includes a new electorate with thousands of new voters.<\/p>\n

The state redistricted California\u2019s congressional districts after voters in November 2025 approved Proposition 50 to counter redistricting by Republicans in Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial elections are really volatile,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cIt\u2019s prone to these seemingly more erratic changes of forces in these races sometimes. But it does happen quite a bit that the primary goes one way and the general shifts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Supreme Court\u2019s decision on voting by mail is clearly political<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democratic official calls ads financed by AIPAC in support of Hernandez ‘dogwhistles’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocratic leader condemns AIPAC-linked ads and party opposition to Wahab - 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=7978\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democratic leader condemns AIPAC-linked ads and party opposition to Wahab - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Democratic official calls ads financed by AIPAC in support of Hernandez 'dogwhistles'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7978\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-30T05:39:21+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=7978#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7978\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Democratic leader condemns AIPAC-linked ads and party opposition to Wahab\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-30T05:39:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7978\"},\"wordCount\":984,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7978#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b9032f111b01f4d56f46ac34132034b2-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7978#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7978\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7978\",\"name\":\"Democratic leader condemns AIPAC-linked ads and party opposition to Wahab - 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