Just a fortnight after the primary, voters in Alameda County went to the polls again on Tuesday to select a successor for the disgraced former congressman Eric Swalwell. His career collapsed due to allegations of rape and sexual assault, which derailed his campaign for California governor.
Despite the scandal surrounding Swalwell, voters in deep-blue East Bay seemed to stick to their usual patterns.
As of 8:32 p.m., with 80% of the votes counted, Democrat Aisha Wahab was leading with 42.6% of the ballot. However, she did not reach the 50% threshold required to evade a runoff in California’s top-two election system. Following her, Melissa Hernandez secured second place with 16.8% (17,619 votes), while Rakhi Israni Singh trailed in third with 13.3% (13,946 votes). Both of these candidates are also Democrats.
Wahab is often described as a very progressive left-liberal.
Her voting history and platform frequently draw comparisons to prominent left-wing figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Initially, Swalwell seemed likely to win the California gubernatorial race in early April. His campaign leveraged his sharp critiques of President Trump and garnered backing from Hollywood figures and political operatives aligned with Gov. Gavin Newsom.
However, things turned dramatically on April 10 when a series of allegations regarding rape, sexual assault, and inappropriate conduct by women surfaced in reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN.
Under pressure from Democratic leaders to withdraw from the race, Swalwell found his affluent donors pulling away, while criminal investigations were launched against him from both coasts and the Justice Department. The situation escalated to the point where his own staff refused to work for him, leading to his resignation from Congress.
Swalwell denies the accusations, acknowledging he made mistakes outside his marriage, but contends the damage to his reputation was beyond repair.
Currently, he is under investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, focusing on more than $300,000 he spent on Sara Azhari, a notable anti-MeToo attorney defending him against the charges of rape and sexual assault.
