Aisha Wahab is the U.S. Representative for California's 14th District, sworn in September 2, 2026 after winning an August special election for the seat Eric Swalwell left; she previously served in the State Senate and on the Hayward City Council. She is on the November 3, 2026 ballot against fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez for a full two-year term.
Background
Aisha Wahab was born in New York City. ABC7 reported that her father was murdered and her mother died when she was young, and that she grew up in foster care until she and her sister were adopted by an Afghan family in Fremont. Her adoptive parents ran a small retail business that lost sales in the Great Recession, and the family moved to Hayward as renters, according to San José Spotlight. She holds an MBA and entered politics on the Hayward City Council. In November 2022 she won the State Senate District 10 seat. ABC7 reported she was the first Muslim and the first Afghan American elected to the California State Senate, with endorsements from Attorney General Rob Bonta, Treasurer Fiona Ma and labor groups.
In office
In 2025 Wahab chaired the Senate Housing Committee. In April 2025 she opposed Senator Scott Wiener's SB 79, a bill to allow denser housing near transit; her committee advanced it 6 to 2, and in September she spoke for the amended bill on the Senate floor. Senator Jesse Arreguín took over the committee in February 2026. Senate Leader Monique Limón named her assistant majority leader in December 2025 and chair of the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee from February 1, 2026.
Bills she wrote that became law include SB 262 (signed October 10, 2025), which helps cities with rent caps compete for state housing and planning grants, and SB 722 (signed July 16, 2026), which CalMatters described as shielding mobile home parks from transit-oriented redevelopment. SB 1193 sets rules for Alameda County supervisors' discretionary grants to nonprofits. The county board voted April 21, 2026 to oppose it; it passed the Senate 37 to 0 and the Assembly 71 to 0, and was signed August 27, 2026. Her SB 257, the PARENT Act, was vetoed on October 13, 2025. SB 384, the Preventing Algorithmic Price Fixing Act, passed the Senate 28 to 10 on June 3, 2025 and was held in Assembly Appropriations on August 29, 2025.
On October 27, 2025, after a state audit of Alameda County's child welfare department, she called the county's handling “criminal neglect,” Bay City News reported.
On the ballot
Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned in April 2026. Wahab won the August 18 special general election for the 14th District with 51,734 votes (53.1 percent) to 45,700 (46.9 percent) for Melissa Hernandez, a BART director and former Dublin mayor, and was sworn in September 2, 2026. On November 3 the two Democrats meet again for the full term that begins January 3, 2027, in a district redrawn under Proposition 50. Her ballot designation reads “State Senator” because it was set before she took the House seat. The seat is next on the ballot November 7, 2028.
What supporters say
Said Wahab's bill letting tenants end a nonpayment eviction by paying the rent they owe would be a “game-changer” for tenant attorneys and would cut back-and-forth posturing in court.
Jacqueline Patton, Supervising litigation attorney, Eviction Defense Collaborative; CalMatters, March 10, 2025 SourceTestified for Wahab's county spending bill, saying residents fighting corruption had been ignored: “We require the state legislature to step in as oversight, not overreach.”
Kiersten Skov, Unincorporated Livermore resident, witness for SB 1193; Pleasanton Weekly, July 8, 2026 SourceAt the committee hearing on SB 1193, said she had not heard the opposition's case and asked what harm the bill does if the county already follows these practices: “I'm looking for what the harm is”.
Rhodesia Ransom, Assemblymember (D-Tracy); Pleasanton Weekly, July 8, 2026 Source
What critics say
At her committee's hearing on his transit housing bill, said she offered opposition and no amendments: “Reading the analysis, there's apparently not a single thing in the bill you like.” She said the two had reached an impasse.
Scott Wiener, State senator (D-San Francisco), author of SB 79; CalMatters, April 23, 2025 SourceSaid Wahab ignores local governments and that SB 1193 is hard to see as anything but “political retribution rather than good public policy.”
David Haubert, Alameda County Supervisor, District 1; Pleasanton Weekly, July 8, 2026 SourceCalled SB 1193 “a direct interference with our authority” and said Wahab should keep to her work in Sacramento.
Nate Miley, Alameda County Supervisor; Pleasanton Weekly (Bay City News), April 27, 2026 Source
On the ballot
U.S. House, District 14
- Melissa HernandezDem Endorsed by the American Independent Party of CaliforniaHealthcare Services Director
- Aisha WahabDem IncumbentEndorsed by the California Democratic PartyState Senator
Party endorsements are each party's official list, linked on each tag; a party preference on the ballot is not an endorsement. How we report endorsements.
SFBAYHCC does not endorse candidates in these pages. Every candidate in a contest gets the same fields, listed in the order the official source lists them. How we write these profiles. Profile last reviewed October 17, 2026.
