Progressive wins special election to fill Swalwell's California House seat

Progressive California state Sen. Aisha Wahab (D) is projected to defeat Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez in the special election to fill the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) term in the House, according to Decision Desk HQ. Swalwell, once seen as the front-runner in the California governor’s race, dropped out from the contest and left his seat amid sexual assault allegations, which the congressman has denied. Wahab and Hernandez placed into the special election following the initial June primary.  Wahab’s victory is not entirely surprising given that the progressive handily led Hernandez in the primary for the special election by 26 percentage points.   The two are also vying for the full two-year term for the Alameda County-based 14th Congressional District; Wahab led Hernandez in the primary for the full two-year term by 21 points. Wahab’s win also marks a major defeat for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) super PAC, which was one of several groups to spend in the race to support Hernandez and oppose Wahab. The race has notably seen large outside spending for a reliably Democratic House seat: United Democracy Project (UDP), AIPAC’s super PAC, has spent roughly $2.5 million to support Hernandez and oppose Wahab. Bold America, which was launched by several former members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and whose group has received money from UDP, has spent about $1.8 million. Safer Alameda County …