In Hayward, voters first sent Aisha Wahab to public office in 2018, when she finished as the top vote-getter in a seven-candidate field for an at-large City Council seat. She served one term, then won election to the California State Senate from the 10th district in 2022. Sworn in on December 5 of that year, she became the first Muslim and Afghan American in the California State Senate. Her work there has ranged across housing, child welfare, public safety, infrastructure, workforce development and labor protections. Wahab is now also seeking a seat in Congress, with an August 18, 2026, special-election runoff against Melissa Hernandez.
ROOTS
Wahab was born in Queens on January 11, 1987, to Afghan refugees who had fled Afghanistan amid the Soviet–Afghan War. Her father was murdered shortly after her birth; her mother died soon afterward. Wahab and her sister entered foster care and were later adopted by an Afghan couple in Fremont.
She graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, attended Ohlone College and earned a political science degree from San Jose State University in 2010. During and after college, she worked as an account manager and business development director for Bay Area startups. In 2011, amid the economic effects of the Great Recession, she was laid off, her parents lost their business and their home was foreclosed. The family moved to Hayward.
Wahab earned an MBA from California State University, East Bay in 2013 and became an IT consultant after graduate school. In 2024, while serving in the Senate, she completed a doctorate in social work through the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California.
FROM CITY HALL TO THE SENATE
Wahab’s 2018 City Council result placed her ahead of the rest of the field in her first elected office. In 2019, Bill Quirk recognized her as Woman of the Year from Assembly District 20. She remained on the council through 2022, when she declined to seek re-election and instead ran successfully for the state Senate.
Her first Senate term produced a broad legislative docket. During the 2023–2025 sessions, she authored and coauthored measures involving housing, health and human services, public safety, infrastructure, workforce development and labor protections. In March 2023, she introduced SB 403, a bill with the broad objective of prohibiting caste discrimination. The Senate passed it that May, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it in October.
Wahab announced a campaign for Congress in California’s 14th district on January 24, 2026. After Eric Swalwell resigned, she also entered the special election for the seat. She received 42.8% in the June 16 first round, sending her to the runoff with Hernandez.
THE RECORD
Housing has occupied a large share of Wahab’s legislative work. Her record includes more than twenty housing-related bills addressing tenant protections, rental practices and housing affordability.
Her work on Alameda County government has followed a different mechanism: audit, findings and continued oversight. In 2024, Wahab requested a state audit of the Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services. The California State Auditor issued Report 2024-108 in September 2025. Wahab’s office established the Alameda County DCFS Audit Implementation Taskforce that December.
Her work on county spending practices proceeded alongside that child-welfare oversight. In February 2026, she introduced Senate Bill 1193, aimed at increasing transparency in discretionary fund awards made by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The bill passed the full Senate 37-0 in May 2026. Taken together, the audit request, implementation task force and legislation show how Wahab has approached county governance questions: by seeking formal review, creating an oversight body and proposing statutory requirements.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Wahab’s legislative portfolio includes tenant protections, foster-youth welfare and anti-discrimination policy. Her housing-related legislative work has included more than twenty bills addressing tenant protections, rental practices and housing affordability.
Her child-welfare work has included broader measures concerning foster youth, post-adoption protections and service-delivery standards, as well as oversight focused on Alameda County. Wahab is a former foster youth. Her response in Alameda County did not end with obtaining the state audit; her office created a task force to monitor implementation of its recommendations. On discrimination, SB 403 placed an explicit prohibition before the Legislature and won Senate passage before the governor’s veto.
Her other recurring interest is the operation of Alameda County government itself. The child-welfare audit and SB 1193 both concern accountability inside county institutions: how performance is examined, how findings are followed and how discretionary awards are handled. The record identifies Wahab with tenant protections, foster-youth welfare, anti-discrimination policy and formal oversight of local government.
- State Senate · Senate District 10 · 2022–present
In Hayward, voters first sent Aisha Wahab to public office in 2018, when she finished as the top vote-getter in a seven-candidate field for an at-large City Council seat. She served one term, then won election to the California State Senate from the 10th district in 2022. Sworn in on December 5 of that year, she became the first Muslim and Afghan American in the California State Senate. Her work there has ranged across housing, child welfare, public safety, infrastructure, workforce development and labor protections. Wahab is now also seeking a seat in Congress, with an August 18, 2026, special-election runoff against Melissa Hernandez.
ROOTS
Wahab was born in Queens on January 11, 1987, to Afghan refugees who had fled Afghanistan amid the Soviet–Afghan War. Her father was murdered shortly after her birth; her mother died soon afterward. Wahab and her sister entered foster care and were later adopted by an Afghan couple in Fremont.
She graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, attended Ohlone College and earned a political science degree from San Jose State University in 2010. During and after college, she worked as an account manager and business development director for Bay Area startups. In 2011, amid the economic effects of the Great Recession, she was laid off, her parents lost their business and their home was foreclosed. The family moved to Hayward.
Wahab earned an MBA from California State University, East Bay in 2013 and became an IT consultant after graduate school. In 2024, while serving in the Senate, she completed a doctorate in social work through the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California.
FROM CITY HALL TO THE SENATE
Wahab’s 2018 City Council result placed her ahead of the rest of the field in her first elected office. In 2019, Bill Quirk recognized her as Woman of the Year from Assembly District 20. She remained on the council through 2022, when she declined to seek re-election and instead ran successfully for the state Senate.
Her first Senate term produced a broad legislative docket. During the 2023–2025 sessions, she authored and coauthored measures involving housing, health and human services, public safety, infrastructure, workforce development and labor protections. In March 2023, she introduced SB 403, a bill with the broad objective of prohibiting caste discrimination. The Senate passed it that May, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it in October.
Wahab announced a campaign for Congress in California’s 14th district on January 24, 2026. After Eric Swalwell resigned, she also entered the special election for the seat. She received 42.8% in the June 16 first round, sending her to the runoff with Hernandez.
THE RECORD
Housing has occupied a large share of Wahab’s legislative work. Her record includes more than twenty housing-related bills addressing tenant protections, rental practices and housing affordability.
Her work on Alameda County government has followed a different mechanism: audit, findings and continued oversight. In 2024, Wahab requested a state audit of the Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services. The California State Auditor issued Report 2024-108 in September 2025. Wahab’s office established the Alameda County DCFS Audit Implementation Taskforce that December.
Her work on county spending practices proceeded alongside that child-welfare oversight. In February 2026, she introduced Senate Bill 1193, aimed at increasing transparency in discretionary fund awards made by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The bill passed the full Senate 37-0 in May 2026. Taken together, the audit request, implementation task force and legislation show how Wahab has approached county governance questions: by seeking formal review, creating an oversight body and proposing statutory requirements.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Wahab’s legislative portfolio includes tenant protections, foster-youth welfare and anti-discrimination policy. Her housing-related legislative work has included more than twenty bills addressing tenant protections, rental practices and housing affordability.
Her child-welfare work has included broader measures concerning foster youth, post-adoption protections and service-delivery standards, as well as oversight focused on Alameda County. Wahab is a former foster youth. Her response in Alameda County did not end with obtaining the state audit; her office created a task force to monitor implementation of its recommendations. On discrimination, SB 403 placed an explicit prohibition before the Legislature and won Senate passage before the governor’s veto.
Her other recurring interest is the operation of Alameda County government itself. The child-welfare audit and SB 1193 both concern accountability inside county institutions: how performance is examined, how findings are followed and how discretionary awards are handled. The record identifies Wahab with tenant protections, foster-youth welfare, anti-discrimination policy and formal oversight of local government.
The record
8,045 events, each with its sourceDo pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Labor, Public Employment and Retirement ]
Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary]
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar
Placed on suspense file
Placed on suspense file
Placed on suspense file
Consent Calendar 2nd AB1297 Stefani
Consent Calendar 2nd AB565 Dixon
Placed on suspense file
Senate 3rd Reading SCR73 Niello
Senate 3rd Reading SR49 Choi et al
Senate 3rd Reading SR48 Menjivar et al
Placed on suspense file
Placed on suspense file
Placed on suspense file
Placed on suspense file
Placed on suspense file
Consent Calendar 2nd AB369 Michelle Rodriguez
Consent Calendar 2nd AB771 Macedo
Special Consent SCR81 Niello et al
Senate 3rd Reading SCR94 Blakespear et al
Special Consent ACR89 Jeff Gonzalez et al
Special Consent ACR88 Jeff Gonzalez et al
Special Consent ACR87 Nguyen et al
Special Consent ACR86 Rivas et al
Special Consent ACR85 Garcia et al
Special Consent ACR84 Hoover et al
Special Consent ACR82 Bryan et al
Assembly 3rd Reading ACR80 Stefani By Wiener
Special Consent ACR78 Patel et al
Special Consent ACR76 Solache et al
Special Consent ACR74 Wilson et al
Special Consent ACR73 Stefani et al
Special Consent ACR69 Berman et al
Special Consent ACR68 Ávila Farías et al
Special Consent ACR67 Sharp-Collins et al
Special Consent ACR66 Dixon et al
Special Consent ACR65 Ward et al
Special Consent ACR62 Hart et al
Special Consent ACR63 Tangipa et al
Special Consent ACR58 Sharp-Collins et al
Special Consent ACR45 Quirk-Silva et al
Special Consent ACR36 Carrillo et al
Special Consent ACR24 Alanis et al
Special Consent ACR23 Quirk-Silva et al
Assembly 3rd Reading ACR15 Alanis et al. By Laird
Special Consent ACR5 Nguyen et al
Immigrants in California: mass immigration raids.
Southeast Asian Americans: resettlement.