Aisha Wahab

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After incumbent U.S. representative Eric Swalwell announced he would run in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Wahab announced she would run to replace him in California's 15th congressional district. [11] Her support for progressive policies such as Medicare for All and identity as a millennial women of color led to comparisons to freshman representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. [12] Swalwell ultimately ended his presidential campaign and ran for re-election to Congress, leading Wahab to suspend her campaign three weeks later. [13]

California State Senate

Wahab at the Caltrain Electric Train Tour, 2023. Aisha Wahab at Caltrain Electric Train Tour, San Jose, California.jpg
Wahab at the Caltrain Electric Train Tour, 2023.

2022 election

Wahab announced she would run for the California State Senate in the 10th district, which spans from Hayward to Sunnyvale. Incumbent state senator Bob Wieckowski was term-limited and endorsed Wahab to succeed him. [14] During the campaign, she noted that she would focus on California's housing crisis and stagnating wages. California state assemblymember Alex Lee, whose district overlaps with Wahab's, and former Federal Election Commission chair Ann Ravel backed her campaign. [15] She advanced to the top-two primary on June 7, 2022, and won the general election on November 8, 2022. She defeated Fremont mayor Lily Mei, a more establishment-oriented Democrat, in the general election. [16] Her victory made her the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the California State Senate. [16]

Tenure

Wahab was sworn in as a state senator on December 5, 2022. She is the first Muslim and Afghan American to serve in the California State Senate.

Caste discrimination

In March 2023, Wahab introduced SB 403, a bill with a broad objective to prohibit caste discrimination. [17] The SB 403 bill, which involved adding caste into the definition of ancestry under multiple discrimination laws, [18] was passed by the California State Senate in May 2023 after a divisive debate. [19] [17] The bill was considered controversial by many in the South Asian community; [17] and Wahab was subject to a recall effort which ultimately did not get enough signatures to appear on the ballot. [20] [21] While the proponents of the bill claimed that an explicit ban on caste discrimination was needed to increase awareness on such bias, the opponents including several Indian-American organizations insisted that this proposal unfairly targeted the Hindu residents because the caste system was most commonly associated with their religious group. [22] In October 2023, SB 403 vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom, who argued that "caste discrimination is already prohibited under existing civil rights protections". [23] [22]

Housing

In 2023, Wahab authored SB 466, a bill to modify the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act and allow cities to expand rent control. The bill failed to advance. [24] In 2025, Wahab introduced SB 436, which would bar the landlord from evicting that tenant for failure to pay rent, if the tenant pays back the rent. [25] [26] She believes that minimum parking requirements are necessary for new housing, and has frequently criticized past efforts in California for exempting new housing projects from them. [27]

In 2025, Wahab was named chair of the Senate Housing Committee by Mike McGuire. [28] As chair, she has criticized efforts to increase housing supply in California amid a housing shortage and said in her first hearing as chair that California needs to move away from "development, development, development." [29] As chair, she expressed skepticism that increased housing supply would lead to lower housing prices. [30] She has described proposals to reduce California's stringent zoning regulations as "giveaways to developers." [30]

Wahab criticized SB 79, a pro-housing bill led by Scott Wiener that would allow apartment buildings near mass transit stations. [30] [31] She said that housing development near mass transit stations "doesn’t necessarily work" because many working people need to commute by car. [30] She criticized the bill's parking mandate exemptions and said she might support increases in housing supply if developers subsidize more affordable housing and if the housing comes with a minimum number of parking spaces. [30] According to CalMatters, Wahab's opposition to SB 79 "nearly killed" the legislation due to her role as chair of the housing committee. [32] Wahab initially voted against SB 79 but supported it when Newsom signed it after numerous amendments. [33] [34]

Wahab has broadly opposed the YIMBY (Yes in My Back Yard) movement's central argument that the California housing shortage is largely caused by exclusionary zoning resulting in an insufficient supply of housing. [35]

2026 congressional campaign

On January 24, 2026, Wahab announced that she would run in the 2026 U.S. House of Representatives election in California's 14th congressional district, which opened after incumbent Eric Swalwell announced his candidacy in the 2026 California gubernatorial election. [2]

Electoral history

Aisha Wahab
Aisha Wahab, 2024.jpg
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the California State Senate
from the 10th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2022
2018 Hayward City Council election [36]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Aisha Wahab 15,949 27.22
Nonpartisan Sara Lamnin (incumbent) 15,172 25.89
Nonpartisan Marvin Peixoto (incumbent)10,19717.40
Nonpartisan Tom Ferreira5,6389.62
Nonpartisan Joe Orlando Ramos4,9088.38
Nonpartisan Didacus Ramos3,9916.81
Nonpartisan Mekia Michelle Fields2,3724.05
Write-in 3690.63
Total votes58,596 100.00
2022 California State Senate 10th district election [37] [38]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Lily Mei 47,149 33.1
Democratic Aisha Wahab 42,731 30.0
Republican Paul J. Pimentel30,74221.6
Democratic Jamal Khan10,4247.3
Democratic Raymond Liu6,9324.9
Democratic Jim Canova4,3913.1
Total votes142,369 100.0
General election
Democratic Aisha Wahab 114,997 53.7
Democratic Lily Mei 99,01146.3
Total votes214,008 100.0
Democratic hold

References

  1. ↑ Pho, Brandon (2026-01-07). "Silicon Valley lawmaker could seek East Bay congressional seat". San José Spotlight. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  2. 1 2 Martin, Kyle (2026-01-24). "Bay Area state senator adds her name to the growing list of candidates hoping to replace Eric Swalwell". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  3. 1 2 Tavares, Steven (February 6, 2019). "Aisha Wahab Made History". East Bay Express . Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Aisha Wahab". Run For Something. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  5. ↑ Copeland, Carolyn (2020-03-12). "Foster care, a city council seat, and a run for Congress: Aisha Wahab's journey". Prism. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  6. ↑ Wahab, Aisha (2026-01-22). "Aisha Wahab". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  7. ↑ "California State Sen. Aisha Wahab - Biography | LegiStorm". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  8. ↑ "Class of 2024: USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work by USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work". Issuu. 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2025-04-14.
  9. ↑ Fost, Dan (March 21, 2019). "One of the First". East Bay Today . Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Assemblymember Quirk recognized Honorable Aisha Wahab as his 2019 Woman of the Year". March 6, 2019. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ Nielson, Katie (April 13, 2019). "Hayward City Councilwoman Aisha Wahab Running For Eric Swalwell's House Seat". KPIX-TV . Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ Tolan, Casey (April 12, 2019). "Hayward council member Aisha Wahab runs for Eric Swalwell's open congressional seat in what could be crowded race". The Mercury News . Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ Peele, Thomas (July 29, 2019). "Hayward council member suspends challenge against Rep. Swalwell". The Mercury News . Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  15. ↑ Herrera, Sonya (June 18, 2021). "Aisha Wahab looks to break barriers in Sacramento". San José Spotlight . Archived from the original on July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Hayward city council member Aisha Wahab becomes 1st Muslim, Afghan American elected to CA senate". ABC7 San Francisco. 2022-11-22. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  17. 1 2 3 "The divisive debate over California's anti-caste bill". BBC News . June 9, 2023. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  18. ↑ He, Eric (October 7, 2023). "Newsom vetoes a proposed ban on caste discrimination in California". Politico . Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  19. ↑ Venkatraman, Sakshi (May 11, 2023). "California Senate passes bill that would make caste discrimination illegal". NBC News . Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  20. ↑ He, Eric (September 4, 2023). "An effort to ban caste discrimination in California has touched a nerve". Politico . Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  21. ↑ Hatch, Jenavieve (May 3, 2023). "Republican-backed recall committee forms against Bay Area Democratic Sen. Aisha Wahab". The Sacramento Bee . Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  22. 1 2 Qin, Amy (October 7, 2023). "Newsom Vetoes Bill Banning Caste Discrimination". The New York Times . Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023. Hindu residents and organizations who had argued that the proposal unfairly targeted them because the caste system is most commonly associated with Hinduism
  23. ↑ He, Eric (October 7, 2023). "Newsom vetoes a proposed ban on caste discrimination in California". Politico . Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023. The governor said the bill is unnecessary because caste discrimination is already prohibited under existing civil rights protections.
  24. ↑ "Renters' rights: California advocates chip away at landlords' political influence". calmatters.org. June 15, 2023. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  25. ↑ Mello, Felicia (2025-03-10). "They tried to pay their overdue rent. Their landlord wouldn't accept it". CalMatters. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  26. ↑ Schreiber, Monica (March 12, 2025). "Stanford research informs legislative proposal on California eviction laws". Stanford Report. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  27. ↑ "California Housing Bills Face Crucial Hearing Today". Yahoo News. 2025-04-22.
  28. ↑ Hoeven, Emily (April 12, 2025). "Meet the politician who could make or break California's housing efforts. What's her plan?". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Meet the politician who could make or break California's housing efforts. What's her plan?". San Francisco Chronicle. 2025.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 Gardiner, Dustin; Jones, Blake (2025-04-22). "The state senator who could foil the YIMBY agenda". POLITICO.
  31. ↑ White, Jeremy B.; Gardiner, Dustin; Holden, Lindsey (2025-04-22). "A house divided by housing". POLITICO.
  32. ↑ Kuang, Jeanne (2025-04-23). "California Democrats, YIMBYs clash over housing bills and 'abundance' agenda". CalMatters.
  33. ↑ "Bill Votes - SB-79 Housing development: transit-oriented development". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
  34. ↑ Norman, Nicole (October 10, 2025). "Gavin Newsom signs contentious bill to spur housing construction". Politico . Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  35. ↑ Gardiner, Dustin; Jones, Blake (2025-04-22). "The state senator who could foil the YIMBY agenda". POLITICO. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  36. ↑ "General Election - 11/06/2018". Alameda County Registrar of Voters. December 6, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  37. ↑ "June 7, 2022, Primary Election - State Senator" (PDF). Secretary of State of California . Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  38. ↑ "November 8, 2022, General Election - State Senator" (PDF). Secretary of State of California . Retrieved July 3, 2025.
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