State Sen. Aisha Wahab cleared the first hurdle Tuesday in the race to fill Eric Swalwell's former congressional seat, advancing to an Aug. 18 runoff in California's 14th District — but who joins her on that ballot remains undecided.

The special primary — triggered by Swalwell's resignation in April following sexual assault allegations — pits the East Bay's progressive wing against its moderate flank. Wahab, a Hayward Democrat who rose to become the first Afghan-American elected to a U.S. state legislature, campaigned on housing costs and taking on "corporate profiteering." Her likely opponent in August is BART director and former Dublin mayor Melissa Hernandez, who ran on job growth and small-business support. The winner fills the seat only through January; a separate race for the full term heads to a November general election, where Wahab and Hernandez are also the top two finishers.

The June 16 special primary for California's 14th Congressional District drew eleven candidates to replace Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April after the San Francisco Chronicle reported allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman who had worked for him. CNN subsequently reported that other women accused him of sending inappropriate messages and nude photos. Swalwell has denied the allegations but said remaining in office would be unfair to his constituents.

Wahab, a state senator representing parts of Alameda County, locked up one of the two runoff spots. The second slot remained too close to call as of Tuesday evening, with Hernandez the most likely contender.

"I don't take things for granted," Wahab said in an interview with the Associated Press following Tuesday's results. "I'm very, very grateful to the voters."

She framed the race not as a referendum on Swalwell's tenure but as a forward-looking contest. Voters deserve a representative "not necessarily working for any other reason but to make their lives better," she said.

A Familiar Democratic Fault Line

The matchup between Wahab and Hernandez reflects a tension playing out across Democratic primaries nationally this cycle. Wahab has positioned herself on the party's left, proposing to combat high housing costs by expanding the social safety net and confronting what she calls corporate profiteering. Hernandez, seen as the more moderate option, has emphasized job creation and support for small businesses.

The 14th District — covering East Bay cities including Fremont, Hayward, and Livermore — is deeply blue terrain. Swalwell routinely dispatched Republican challengers by double digits during his seven terms. Republican candidates Wendy Huang, a real estate investor, and Dena Maldonado, who runs a flower business, were among the eleven names on Tuesday's ballot but were not expected to advance.

Dual Tracks, Same Candidates

The special election structure creates an unusual dynamic. The winner of the Aug. 18 runoff fills Swalwell's seat only through January. A separate, simultaneous race for the full term starting in January went through a regular primary on June 2 — where Wahab and Hernandez were again the top two finishers, advancing to a November general election.

That means the same two candidates could face each other twice in the space of two months: once in August for the remainder of Swalwell's term, and again in November for the full four-year seat. Political analysts note that a win in August could give whichever candidate prevails a visibility and incumbency advantage heading into the fall race.

Alameda County's Registrar of Voters confirmed results from the June 16 special primary are posted on its official elections site, though full vote tabulation was still ongoing Tuesday night.

The Aug. 18 runoff date gives both campaigns roughly two months to make their case to East Bay voters — this time in a one-on-one race that will force a cleaner choice between two distinct visions of where the Democratic Party goes next.