The early frontrunner in the primary for Eric Swalwell's former East Bay congressional seat next term appears to be State Senator Aisha Wahab, who currently represents roughly half the district, with former Dublin mayor and BART director Melissa Hernandez trailing behind.State Senator Aisha Wahab ap pears to be in the early lead for the June 2 election — the first of two elections some East Bay voters will face this month to replace former Representative Eric Swalwell. As SFist reported previously, Swalwell resigned from Congress in April after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. According to ABC 7, out of the nearly 47% of ballots counted Tuesday night, Wahab received 34% of the vote, while former Dublin mayor and BART director Melissa Hernandez was in second with 16%.Tuesday’s primary election was for the full two-year term beginning in January 2027, while a separate June 16 special election will determine who serves out the remainder of this year. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two in each race will advance to separate elections in August (the run-off for the current term) and November (to serve in the next term), as Bay Area News Group reports.Wahab, the first elected Afghan-American Muslim woman in the state Senate, entered the race with backing from the California Democratic Party, former state Sen. Bob Wieckowski, and several members of California’s congressional delegation. As previously reported, Wahab rejected calls for candidates to rally behind a caretaker representative for the remainder of the current term, arguing that she already serves much of the district and intends to continue representing it.“This vote shows that we’ve been able to work with so many people and our message makes sense to people. Good policy is good policy,” Wahab said, speaking to the News Group. “I represent this district, I grew up in this district and I will continue to fight for this district, regardless of what the outcome is.”One of Wahab’s main rivals was Fremont small-business owner Rakhi Israni, who reportedly contributed more than $1.2 million to her own campaign and spent the closing days of the race attacking Wahab over her unsuccessful 2023 anti-caste discrimination bill. Several voters told Bay Area News Group that they supported Wahab because they viewed her as a progressive candidate who would advocate for working people and bring a fresh perspective to Congress. Several candidates in the race for the full term, including Wahab, Hernandez, Israni, and Wendy Huang, are also running in the June 16 special election.Previously: Four Democrats Rally Behind Caretaker Candidate to Fill Swalwell’s Seat Until End of TermImage: State Senator Aisha Wahab/Facebook ...read more read less