US elections: Aisha Wahab becomes first Afghan-American in Congress
The first Afghan-American to take a seat in the US Congress will represent California, following an election which saw a well-financed campaign led by pro-Israel voices to defeat her.
Aisha Wahab, a progressive California state senator, was declared the winner of the tight runoff election in her state's 14th district on Thursday, some 48 hours after polls closed.
The district includes the cities of Fremont and Hayward, and is located north of San Jose, along the San Francisco bay.
Wahab and her opponent, Melissa Hernandez, advanced to the runoff after neither reached the 50 percent threshold in the June primary.
Wahab, 39, will now serve for the remainder of the term of Eric Swalwell, the state's former congressman, who resigned over sexual misconduct allegations earlier this year. His term expires in January.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
She will, however, still compete in the general election in November to secure her own two-year term in the US House of Representatives.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) spent $2.5m on attack adverts against Wahab, who has said Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza.
AIPAC campaigned for Hernandez, who has maintained Israel "has a right to defend itself".
Neither candidate had made Israel a focus of their campaigns, which centred on issues of affordability.
Wahab's win comes two weeks after Egyptian-American Abdul el-Sayed of Michigan won his Democratic primary for the US Senate, overcoming a $50m campaign from pro-Israel lobbying groups to defeat him.
Wahab became California's first Afghan and Muslim state senator in 2022.
She was born in New York City, but was raised by an Afghan family in the district she now represents after her parents both died when she was a child.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
