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
7,797 events, each with its sourceExpedited birth certificates upon adoption.
Discretionary funds: County of Alameda.
Small energization projects: electrical service connections.
Common interest developments: management.
Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Assembly 3rd Reading AB107 Gabriel By Laird
Assembly 3rd Reading AB117 BUDGET (Gabriel) By Laird
Senate 3rd Reading SR78 Cabaldon et al
Special Consent ACR112 Gallagher et al
Special Consent ACR116 Jackson et al
Special Consent ACR118 Mark González et al
Special Consent ACR120 Ávila Farías et al
Special Consent ACR121 Tangipa et al
Special Consent ACR122 Ahrens et al
Senate 3rd Reading SCR89 Smallwood-Cuevas
Load-serving entities: resource adequacy requirements.
Public contracts: University of California executives: conflicts of interest: prohibition.
Nonpayment of rent: federal employees: government shutdown.
Companion chatbots: children’s safety.
Senate 3rd Reading SR72 Wahab et al
Pupil instruction: math assessments.
Mobilehome parks: resident organizations: option to purchase.
Special Consent SR73 Choi et al
Special Consent ACR71 Kalra et al. By Cortese
Special Consent ACR115 Bennett et al. By Weber Pierson
Special Consent ACR117 Sharp-Collins
California Indian Freedom Act of 2026.
California Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.
Pupils: foster youth: access to pupil records.
CalWORKs: unrelated adult male.
Arbitration: health care service plans: Lindalee’s Law.
Manufactured housing: classification as real property.
Relative to Japanese American concentration camps.
Unfinished Business SB106 Laird Concurrence
Senate 3rd Reading SR77 Weber Pierson et al
Senate 3rd Reading SR71 Arreguín et al
Senate 3rd Reading SR75 Rubio
Senate 3rd Reading SCR115 Dahle et al
Average daily attendance: emergencies: major safety hazard.
Relative to Women’s History Month.