Aisha Wahab has been elected as the first Afghan-American member of the US Congress. She defeated Democratic candidate Melissa Hernandez despite strong opposition from the pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and millions of dollars spent on the election campaign.
According to The New York Times, 39-year-old Wahab defeated 51-year-old pro-Israel Democrat Melissa Hernandez in a special election for California’s 14th Congressional District.
Wahab won the seat left vacant by former Republican Congressman Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April amid allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment.
🚨 BREAKING: Aisha Wahab has officially won the Democratic primary in California’s 14th District.
She defeated over $6 million in AIPAC dark money, and is running on universal childcare. pic.twitter.com/YpfdNMcdFN
— Democrats Deliver (@DemzDeliver) August 20, 2026
Wahab secured 53.1% of the vote in the special election. Her victory has been described as a triumph of grassroots support over big money in American politics. She will serve the remainder of Swalwell’s term, which ends in January.
Wahab is a highly educated progressive Democrat. Her parents fled Afghanistan as refugees during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s.
She first made history in 2018 when she was elected to the Hayward City Council, becoming the first Afghan-American woman elected to public office in the United States. In 2022, she was elected to the California State Senate, becoming the first Muslim and first Afghan-American member of the chamber.
Her victory is also being viewed as another sign of declining political influence of the pro-Israel lobby within the Democratic Party. During the campaign, super PACs affiliated with AIPAC spent millions of dollars on advertisements and social media campaigns against Wahab while supporting her opponent.
