On Tuesday, and for the second time this month, Alameda County voters in the 14th Congressional District will have a chance to weigh in on who should replace former U.S. representative Eric Swalwell.
Tuesday’s election is a special primary to determine who will fill Swalwell’s old seat until his permanent replacement takes office in January 2027.
The race features 11 candidates — six Democrats, four Republicans and one without a party preference.
The Democrats are California state Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, BART Board Director Melissa Hernandez, mom/business administrator Alisha Cordes, Spanish professor/businessman Jot Thiara, educator/nonprofit attorney Rakhi Israni Singh and administrative law judge Sheriene Ridenour.
The Republicans are florist/business owner Dena Maldonado, educator Jack Wu, businessperson/CEO Tom Wong and real estate investor Wendy Huang.
Victor Zevallos, who is listed as a financial business strategist on the voter information guide, is running without a party affiliation.
If any one of them wins a majority of the vote Tuesday, they will be declared the outright winner. If nobody wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will face off in an Aug. 18 election.
The eventual winner will take Swalwell’s seat until the next full term starts in January of next year.
That person will be replaced by whoever wins the June 2 election, votes for which are still being calculated.
The June 2 election featured several of the same candidates and currently Wahab is leading with 38.3% of the vote, and Hernandez is in second place with 17.2%, as of Friday.
If Wahab takes a majority of that vote by the time it’s certified, perhaps in early July, she will replace Swalwell for a full term.
If not, then she and her closest opponent will face off in a Nov. 3 runoff election, according to interim Alameda County Registrar of Voters Cynthia Cornejo.
Multiple elections could confuse voters
In the end, if no candidate takes any of the elections with a simple majority, voters in the district will cast ballots four times in a six-month stretch for one congressional seat.
“It is confusing,” Cornejo said. “We’ve had elections that are close together or overlapped a little, we were ready for it, but it’s about making sure we can disseminate the information to the voters to avoid as much confusion as possible.”
Swalwell, D-Castro Valley, had represented the 14th District since 2013. He announced his resignation in April and suspended his gubernatorial campaign following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Two women have also accused the former congressman of rape.
The 14th District is in Alameda County and includes the cities of Hayward, Pleasanton, Livermore, Union City, Castro Valley, and parts of Dublin and Fremont.
More information about Tuesday’s election, including where and how to vote, can be found at the Registrar of Voters website.
