Rep. Wahab, candidate Hernandez attend debate for 14th Congressional District race
By Andrea Nakano
The only debate in what has been a contentious race for the 14th Congressional seat took place Wednesday night in Dublin.
While Congresswoman Aisha Wahab won the special election, her opponent Melissa Hernandez has been gaining ground to potentially win the full two-year term in November.
The debate stayed contentious, similar to how the rest of the race is playing out. Attack ads against Wahab have flooded the airwaves. The ads and how much Hernandez has raised in campaign contributions quickly became a topic of discussion at the debate.
“I have gotten funding from the people,” Hernandez said. “At the federal level, you can only get funding from people or national pacs. Let’s be clear, people are national PACs, and we cannot control the independent expenditures.”
“It is what it is,” Wahab said. “It’s honest that the independent expenditures have no real say over that. There’s not supposed to be any coordination and things like that. But at the same time, there’s no denouncing of this $7 million we heard in our race.”
The candidates also debated on issues of cost of living, including affordable housing, and data centers. But public safety has been a key issue in this campaign. Congresswoman Wahab talked about her personal experience with crime.
“When my family came to this country, my father was actually murdered in New York City,” Wahab said. “Today, nearly 30+ years later, it’s still considered a cold case. It does not just affect the individual the crime happened to right there in the moment. It affects the entire family like myself that still has no answers.”
BART Board Director Hernandez touted her record of improving crime on BART by investing in first responders.
“I have hired more police officers when I was the Mayor of Dublin without increasing taxes,” Hernandez said. “We have hired more police officers at BART to make it a priority to keep our riders safe.”
The election in November will be in new district lines, which adds 26,000 more Dublin voters, the city Hernandez served as a mayor from 2020-2024. Next month’s election is expected to be closer than the special election in August.
“She’s very approachable,” Hernandez supporter Barbara Luna said. “She will listen to you. You feel like she gives you her full attention.”
“I think Aisha handles herself like she always does,” Wahab supporter Gregory Fite said. “With two feet on the ground, very adept. Very aware of the issues. I feel that coming through that, to her values are very foundational.”
