Aisha Wahab, a Democratic California state senator who has described Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a “genocide,” will be advancing to a runoff in the special election to succeed former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
With roughly 82% of ballots counted in California’s 14th Congressional District, Wahab led the field with about 42.5% of the vote. Melissa Hernandez, a Democrat and former mayor of Dublin, Calif., was second with 16.7%, while Rakhi Israni Singh, a Democrat and attorney, trailed with 13.2%, according to the Associated Press.
During an April virtual candidate forum, Wahab and Hernandez were asked whether they “think what is happening to the Palestinian people is a genocide. Yes or no?” Wahab answered, “Yes.”
Hernandez did not give a direct yes-or-no response. Instead, she said “Israel had the right to defend itself” after the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and to secure the release of the hostages. At the same time, she said that “the destruction in Gaza has gone too far, and the people are paying the cost, and so are the civilians.”
Under California’s special-election rules, a candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote wins outright. If no candidate secures a majority, the top two finishers advance to a special general election on Aug. 18, regardless of party affiliation.
Dan Schnur, a political science lecturer at Pepperdine University, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley, told JNS that “it looks as if the Genocide Caucus in Congress will continue to grow.”
“Wahab’s likely election reflects the continued trend within the bases of both parties to take aggressive anti-Israel positions without fear of political consequence,” he said.
