Aisha Wahab

Aisha Wahab (born 1987/1988) is an American politician who has been a member of the California State Senate from the 10th district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first Muslim elected to the California State Senate. Wahab served on the Hayward City Council from 2018 to 2022 and was one of the first Afghan-Americans elected to public office, alongside New Hampshire state Representative Safiya Wazir.

In 2025, Wahab was named chair of the Senate Housing Committee by Mike McGuire. As chair, she has criticized efforts to increase housing supply in California amid a housing shortage. Her April 2025 opposition to SB 79, a pro-housing bill that would allow apartment buildings near mass transit stations, almost killed the legislation. She has criticized that new housing developments near transit stations are exempt from parking mandates.

Early life and education

Wahab was born in Queens, New York City, to refugees who fled Afghanistan in the 1980s. Her father was murdered and her mother died soon after, leaving Wahab and her sister in foster care. They were adopted by an Afghan couple in Fremont, California, and moved to Hayward after the Great Recession.

Wahab earned a Bachelor's degree in political science at San Jose State University and a Masters in Business Administration from Cal State East Bay. She went on to work in non-profit organizations and is currently an IT consultant. In 2024 she completed a doctorate of social work at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

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 elected to public office.

Tenure

California State Assembly member Bill Quirk recognized Wahab as Woman of the Year from District 20 in 2019.

2020 Congressional campaign

After incumbent U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell announced he would run in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Wahab announced she would run for California's 15th congressional district in 2020. Her support for progressive policies such as Medicare for All and identity as a millennial women of color led to comparisons to freshman representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 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, incumbent state senator Bob Wieckowski was term-limited. 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 Ann Ravel backed her campaign. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022, defeating Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, a more establishment oriented Democrat.

Legislative career

Caste discrimination

In March 2023, as a first-term state senator, Wahab introduced Senate Bill 403, a bill with a broad objective to prohibit caste discrimination. The SB 403 bill, which involved adding caste into the definition of ancestry under multiple discrimination laws, was passed by the California State Senate in May 2023 after a divisive debate. The bill was considered controversial by many in the South Asian community; and Wahab was subject to a recall effort. While the proponents of the bill claimed that an explicit ban on caste discrimination was needed to increase awareness on such bias, the opponents including several Indian-American organizations insisted that this proposal unfairly targeted the Hindu residents because the caste system was most commonly associated with their religious group. In October 2023, the bill was eventually vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom, who argued that "caste discrimination is already prohibited under existing civil rights protections".

Housing

In 2023, Wahab authored SB 466, a bill to modify the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act and allow cities to expand rent control. The bill failed to advance. In 2025, Wahab introduced SB 436, which would bar the landlord from evicting that tenant for failure to pay rent, if the tenant pays back the rent. She believes that minimum parking requirements are necessary for new housing, and has frequently criticized past efforts in California for exempting new housing projects from them.

In 2025, Wahab was named chair of the Senate Housing Committee. In her first hearing as chair, she said that California, which was in the throes of a housing shortage, needs to move away from "development, development, development." As chair, she expressed skepticism that increased housing supply would lead to lower housing prices. She has described proposals to reduce California's stringent zoning regulations as "giveaways to developers." She criticized SB 79, a pro-housing bill that would allow apartment buildings near mass transit stations. She said that housing development near mass transit stations "doesn’t necessarily work" because many working people need to commute by car. She said might support increases in housing supply if developers subsidize more affordable housing and if the housing comes with a minimum number of parking spaces. According to CalMatters, Wahab's opposition to SB 79 "nearly killed" the legislation due to her role as chair of the housing committee. Wahab later voted against SB 79.

Wahab has broadly opposed the YIMBY (Yes in My Back Yard) movement's central argument that the California housing shortage is largely caused by exclusionary zoning resulting in an insufficient supply of housing.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahab, Aisha
Democratic Party California state senators
Women state legislators in California
Women city councillors in California
Candidates in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections
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
21st-century members of the California State Legislature