Groups affiliated with the pro-Israel lobby organization AIPAC have poured millions into attack ads against Wahab, who is campaigning for the vacant East Bay congressional seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell.
State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont, speaks during the 50th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade at San Francisco City Hall on Jan. 25, 2023. Wahab’s team alleged social media platforms are being weaponized to spread false information against the candidate. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, said Wednesday she plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over what she called election interference on social media, as groups associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spend millions to crush her bid to replace Eric Swalwell in Congress.
The Aug. 18 special election between Wahab and Melissa Hernandez, fellow Democrat and BART board president, has become a priority for pro-Israel interests, with over $5 million in outside money spent on advertisements opposing Wahab and championing Hernandez in the final days of the race, according to Politico.
Wahab said the fight has now moved online, where her team alleges social media platforms are being weaponized to spread false information.
“What we are seeing is a surge of suspicious accounts, bot-like activity, and very much coordinated to say the same vile, misleading narratives,” she said at a press conference outside Hayward City Hall on Wednesday. “A lot of these accounts have one friend and three posts that have no connection to the district.”
Wahab, the first Muslim woman and Afghan American elected to the state Legislature, is no stranger to hateful comments on her social media posts. But campaign spokesperson Joe Macaluso said her team has noticed a new pattern of defamatory posts. Unlike the fear-mongering Islamaphobic content they’ve come to expect, these make specific false claims, like a reference to Wahab assaulting a former staffer.
“Outright lies,” Macaluso said.
“Our campaign is getting hit by bots too, likely from her wealthy corporate donors,” Hernandez said in a statement on Wednesday. “We’re not launching bots. We’re winning votes from voters who are comparing our records.”
Wahab handily beat Hernandez in the June primary, but outside spending has since poured in, turning up the intensity of the race in its final stretch.
That includes $1.2 million from the United Democracy Project, which is backed by AIPAC, and $2.1 million from Bold American Pac, according to Politico’s reporting. Bold America has received significant financial backing from the United Democracy Project, according to the PAC’s FEC filings.
Wahab’s team is emphasizing AIPAC’s role in the campaign, following the playbook of progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Michigan Senate primary this week in part by criticizing AIPAC’s colossal spending against him.
“I’ve been attacked before, I’ve been threatened before,” Wahab told supporters. “I didn’t back down then, and I don’t plan to back down now.”
Regardless of the outcome of the Aug. 18 special election, Hernandez and Wahab will face off again in the November contest for the district’s full congressional term.
