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The first Afghan-American woman elected to the California Legislature—or any public office in the U.S.—Aisha Wahab won her seat in the State Senate in November 2022.
A Democrat, Wahab earned her seat by defeating fellow Democrat Lily Mei 53.7 percent to 46.7 percent in the general election. California’s electoral system has the top two finishers in primary races face off regardless of their party affiliation. Mei, the mayor of Fremont, had finished first among all finishers, including five Democrats, in the June 2022 primary with 33.1 percent of the vote, with Wahab second with 30 percent.
The race for the general election got ugly, with CalMatters reporting in November 2022 that Mei had been “slammed for her role in a secretive severance payout to the former city manager, who has been charged with embezzlement,” while Wahab was accused of elder abuse.
Wahab succeeds two-term California State Senator Bob Wieckowski, who endorsed her.
Background
Wahab’s story is one of tragedy and perserverance, with the biography page on her State Senate website detailing how she wound up in foster care at a young age after her father was murdered and her mother died.
“Senator Wahab was fortunate to be adopted by a young, self-employed couple in the Bay Area who taught her the values of hard work, perseverance, and pride in their American identity,” the bio notes.
Wahab eventually went to San Jose State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and California State University, East Bay, where she earned an MBA and had a scholarship for intermediate study of Farsi, according to her LinkedIn page. This page also indicates that she studied social work at University of Southern California, though it doesn’t list a degree.
Professionally, Wahab has worked in information technology, finance, and political campaigning. She won her first election, to the Hayward City Council, in 2018 and later served as mayor pro tempore of that city. She also briefly flirted with running for Eric Swalwell’s Congressional seat when he was running for president in the 2020 election, though she suspended her campaign after he did the same.
Wahab appears to have thick skin, once convincing a woman who asked her if she’d accepted campaign donations from ISIS to take home one of her lawn signs.
Committees
Business, Professions and Economic Development
Public Safety (chair)
Select Legislation
SB 395: As of this writing in mid-February 2023, Wahab has already introduced 16 bills, including this one, which “would require landlords to report all evictions to a new statewide eviction reporting database.”
District Boundaries and Office Locations
Wahab’s district spans much of the East Bay and South Bay areas. Comprising some of both Alameda and Santa Clara counties, the district includes all or parts of the cities of Hayward, Union City, Newark, Fremont, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Santa Clara. She keeps the following offices:
State Senator Aisha Wahab of District 10 is confident her bill to end caste discrimination will fare well in the State Assembly before the summer recess.
