Muslim Candidate Again Defeats Jewish Lobby in California

California legislator Aisha Wahab secured victory on Thursday in a special election to complete the remaining term of former Congressman Eric Swalwell, which ends in January. Wahab extends the growing list of Muslim politicians who have achieved success in the United States in recent times.

Swalwell, a Democratic politician who had previously run for governor of California, ended his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after being accused of violence and sexual harassment. He has denied the allegations.

Wahab defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez in the special election for the state’s 14th Congressional District, which covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.

According to Politico, Aisha Wahab won despite a massive influx of funding from the Israeli lobby group AIPAC aimed at silencing her.

Wahab is known for championing housing affordability and access. She also drafted legislation in 2023 to ban caste-based discrimination, which drew national attention. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill on the grounds that such discrimination is already prohibited under existing civil rights protections.

Wahab became the first Afghan American elected to public office in the US when she won a seat on the Hayward City Council in 2018. She will become the first Afghan American to serve in Congress.

She and Hernandez will face each other again in a separate election in November to determine who will serve a full two-year term.

After Democratic politician Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election last year, a number of Muslim candidates won primary elections for the US Congress. This wave of victories has overturned the dominance of the Israel lobby amid the genocide taking place in Gaza.