Aisha Wahab (born 1987/1988) is an American politician who has served as a member of the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

from the 10th district since 2022. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Wahab served on the Hayward City Council from 2018 to 2022 and was one of the first Afghan-Americans elected public office, alongside New Hampshire state representative Safiya Wazir.

Early life and education

Wahab was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

who fled

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in the 1980s. Her father was murdered and her mother died soon after, leaving Wahab and her sister in

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

. They were adopted by an Afghan couple in Fremont,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and moved to Hayward after the

2008 Financial Crisis 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

Wahab earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

and a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Cal State East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post ...

. She went on to work in

non-profit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and is currently an IT consultant.

Career

Hayward City Council

Wahab was the top vote-getter in a field of seven candidates vying for an at-large city council seat, beating out two incumbents. Along with New Hampshire State Representative Safiya Wazir, Wahab was the first

Afghan-American Afghan Americans ( prs, آمریکایی‌های افغان‌تبار ''Amrikāyi-hāye Afghān tabar'', ps, د امريکا افغانان ''Da Amrīka Afghanan'') are Americans of Afghan descent or Americans who originated from Afghanistan. ...

elected to public office.

Tenure

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

member

Bill Quirk William J. Quirk (born September 1, 1946) is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Quirk represented the California's 20th Stat ...

recognized Wahab as Woman of the Year from

District 20 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in 2019.

2020 Congressional campaign

After incumbent

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Eric Swalwell Eric Michael Swalwell (born November 16, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 15th congressional district since 2013. His district covers most of eastern Alameda County and part of cent ...

announced he would run in the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Unit ...

, Wahab announced she would run for

California's 15th congressional district California's 15th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by . Currently, the district includes most of San Mateo County and the southeast side of San Francisco. ...

in 2020. Her support for progressive policies such as

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...

and identity as a

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...

women of color The term "person of color" (plural, : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "White people, white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily a ...

led to comparisons to freshman representative

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

. Swalwell decided to run for re-election after ending his presidential campaign, leading Wahab to suspend her campaign 3 weeks later.

2022 California State Senate campaign

Wahab announced she would run for

California's 10th State Senate district California's 10th State Senate district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Aisha Wahab of Hayward. District profile The district includes the southern coastal East Bay and parts of Silic ...

, incumbent

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Bob Wieckowski Robert A. Wieckowski (born February 18, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who currently serves in the California State Senate. A Democrat, he represents the 10th Senate District, which encompasses the central and southern portions o ...

was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

. She noted the housing crisis and stagnating wages as issues she would focus on. California State Assembly member Alex Lee and former Chair of the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

Ann Ravel Ann Miller Ravel (born April 6, 1949) is an American attorney who was a Democratic Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent regulatory agency created by Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance law. Ravel ...

backed her campaign. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahab, Aisha Democratic Party California state senators 21st-century American women politicians American people of Afghan descent People from Hayward, California San Jose State University alumni California State University, East Bay alumni 1980s births Living people