SAN JOSE, Calif. — Early returns in the Congressional District 14 race to fill former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s term showed state Sen. Aisha Wahab with a slight lead over BART Board President Melissa Hernandez.

As of Tuesday night, Wahab was in the lead with 51.04% of the vote, with Hernandez at 48.96%. The final results could give the winner a powerful advantage when the two meet again in November.

“We are going to win. We won tonight. The margin will only grow,” Wahab told her supporters at a watch party in Hayward. “And we are going to work hard to ensure that victory is still in our hands in November.”

With more votes left to count, the winner of Tuesday’s special runoff will take office ahead of a Nov. 3 rematch between the two Democrats for a full two-year term. The registrar’s office is expected to provide updated election results on Friday. Mail-in voting for the special runoff began July 20.

“This race is too close to call,” Hernandez said during a watch party Tuesday night in Pleasanton. “Eight weeks ago, many folks didn’t think we were going to be this close, so I want to thank all of my supporters, thank my team. Right now Alameda County has not counted all of the ballots, so there’s still thousands of ballots left to count.”

Tuesday was the third of four elections for the seat, following two June primaries that set Wahab and Hernandez ahead of a crowded field of candidates. In the June 16 special election, Wahab secured about 43% of the vote, while Hernandez took nearly 17%. In the June 2 primary to fill the full term starting next year, Wahab received about 38% of the vote to Hernandez’s 17%.

Congressional District 14 spans parts of South Alameda County into the Tri-Valley, including parts of Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Dublin and Pleasanton.

Swalwell resigned from office and abandoned a gubernatorial campaign earlier this year after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. He has denied the allegations.

The embattled former East Bay congressman also found himself in the middle of another scandal this week after the White House Transparency Task Force released records showing Swalwell admitted he previously had physical relations with Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese spy also known as Fang Fang.

Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas previously told Bay Area News Group he was supportive of Hernandez’s run for office because of her experience on the BART board and as a former Dublin mayor and councilmember. She served on the Dublin City Council between 2018 and 2019, then served as the city’s mayor from 2020 to 2024 before joining BART.

“Right now, in this time in history, the representative I want to send to Washington is somebody who is very, very familiar with local issues,” Salinas said. “Just on experience and just on her proximity to local government, Melissa is a local government person and that’s why I’m supporting her.”

Other voters were not as supportive of the former Tri-Valley politician.

Hayward resident Candi Cross, 78, said she previously voted for Hernandez in the June primaries but switched her vote to Wahab on Tuesday. Cross said she didn’t like the money backing Hernandez’s campaign or the attack ads against Wahab it bought.

“I didn’t like the way she was accusing Aisha of things that I didn’t think were true,” Cross said after casting her ballot Tuesday at the vote center inside Hayward City Hall.

Cross said she voted for Wahab because she liked her when she served as a Hayward councilmember between 2018 and 2022, before Wahab won election to represent state Senate District 10, which includes parts of Santa Clara and Alameda counties such as Milpitas, San Jose, Fremont, Hayward and Union City.

“I know she’s been very hard working,” Cross said.

The race drew a surge of outside spending in recent weeks, with groups tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other interests spending millions to support Hernandez or oppose Wahab.

Separately, Hernandez raised nearly $900,000 in direct campaign contributions from July 1 through July 29, with less than 1% coming from donors living in the district, according to Federal Election Commission records filed this month.

Groups supporting Wahab also mobilized in the days before Tuesday’s election. American Priorities PAC, a pro-Palestinian super PAC formed this year to oppose AIPAC and support Democrats critical of Israel, independently spent a total of $300,500 to support Wahab or oppose Hernandez so far in August.

The spending included $40,200 in support of Wahab and $60,300 opposing Hernandez on Aug. 13, according to federal records. The group previously spent $50,000 supporting Wahab and $150,000 opposing Hernandez.

Hernandez on Tuesday refused to respond to multiple requests for comment by this news organization on the outside money spent and whether she has ties to AIPAC. She has also repeatedly refused to answer previous questions on the subject.

Her campaign staff hurried her away from reporters during her watch party Tuesday night when asked about her wealthy backers.

“You keep asking the same question,” she told Bay Area News Group. “I answered everybody else.”

Greg Humpa, a 62-year-old Hayward voter, said the money behind one candidate led him to choose another.

“I didn’t like the fact that Melissa Hernandez took money from AIPAC,” Humpa said. “That was problematic for me.”

Christine Dickson, 48, said outside the vote center at the Veterans’ Memorial Building in Fremont that she voted for Wahab in both of the June primaries and again in Tuesday’s runoff.

“We got so sick and tired because of Melissa Hernandez’s attack ads against Wahab,” Dickson said. “They cost her a vote.”

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