(The Center Square) – State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, the winner of the race for California’s 14th Congressional District, has talked about the wide range of people who supported her.
Wahab was declared the winner Thursday, as previously reported by The Center Square. According to the Official Election Site of Alameda County, Wahab had 51,610 votes or 53.09% support compared to BART board member and former Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez’s 45,598 votes or 46.91% support. (BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit.)
Wahab also had more votes than Hernandez in June primaries leading up to Tuesday’s election.
Wahab will now fill the seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-San Francisco Bay Area. He resigned from Congress in April amid sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell also dropped out of the race for governor of California. In the latest development on an investigation into the allegations, the FBI executed a search warrant for Swalwell's Washington, D.C., home last Sunday and seized Swalwell's iPhone and MacBook Pro after he landed Saturday night at the San Francisco International Airport. That's according to various media reports.
The Center Square is seeking comments from Wahab, but speaking to supporters after Tuesday’s election, Wahab said that her story is an American story, and together, people make up the fabric of what is the American dream.
"We have also seen a lot of the darkness in campaigns, a lot of negative ads distorting our record, talking about us in a negative way that we're not good enough or we're not American enough,” said Wahab, who was born in New York City to parents who fled Afghanistan. “Shame.”
Wahab said critics took issue with her being an Afghan American, a Muslim American and a woman of color, saying she does not belong. Still, Wahab said “the voters of this district spoke out” and they pushed back.
"It is representative of this community. It is representative of the voters of this district,” said Wahab, who grew up in foster care after her father was murdered and her mother died at an early age. "We had seniors walking door to door in their neighborhoods. We had young interns from high school and college working on weekends and evenings. We had so many different people commit to hours of service.”
Wahab will serve the rest of Swalwell's term, which ends Jan. 3.
The Center Square is also seeking comments from the Hernandez campaign, as Wahab will meet Hernandez again in the Nov. 3 general election to decide the winner for the new term starting Jan. 3.
In the meantime, Wahab said her “small” but “mighty” team will work for and listen to people.
“And we are going to work hard to ensure that victory is still in our hands in November,” said Wahab.
(The Center Square) – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper has a 5% lead on Republican Michael Whatley in the High Point University Poll released Friday morning.
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