Voters in the Bay Area of California are casting ballots Tuesday in a special congressional primary to begin narrowing a field of nearly a dozen candidates competing to fill the seat once held by Democratic former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell. For many of those candidates, Tuesday marks the second time in just two weeks they have appeared on a ballot for this particular House seat.
A Democratic victory in this heavily Democratic district would put additional pressure on what is already a razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Swalwell stepped down from Congress in April following sexual-assault allegations, which he has denied. He also pulled out of the California governor’s race, in which he had been considered a leading contender.
There are actually two separate races happening simultaneously for Swalwell’s former seat. One is a standard scheduled election for the next full congressional term beginning in January 2027. The other is Tuesday’s special primary, which determines who will serve out the remaining 15 weeks of Swalwell’s current term.
Among the Democrats competing in the special primary for the 14th District’s abbreviated term are former Dublin mayor and Bay Area Rapid Transit board member Melissa Hernandez, state Sen. Aisha Wahab, and attorney and education entrepreneur Rakhi Israni Singh. On the Republican side, candidates include real estate investor Wendy Huang and small business owner Dena Maldonado. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will move on to a special general election set for August 18. California uses a top-two primary system in which all candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot.
All five of those candidates also competed in the June 2 primary for the full-term seat, which drew a slightly smaller field of nine candidates overall. Wahab and Hernandez finished first and second in that race, ensuring the seat will remain under Democratic control next year.
The boundaries of California’s 14th Congressional District were redrawn under a new congressional map approved by voters through a 2025 statewide ballot measure called Proposition 50. Those new boundaries take effect for the full-term seat in January, while whoever wins the special election will serve under the current district boundaries for the rest of this year.
Proposition 50 was placed before voters partly in response to mid-decade redistricting efforts pushed by President Donald Trump in several Republican-led states. Although the new map generally benefits Democrats, the changes to the 14th District specifically were not dramatic. Under the current boundaries, Democrats account for 50.4% of registered voters as of October, compared to 17.6% for Republicans. Under the newly drawn boundaries, Democrats make up roughly 49.7% of registered voters as of mid-May, with Republicans at about 17.4%.
In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic nominee and then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the current 14th District with 65.8% of the vote. Under the newly redrawn boundaries, she would have received approximately 65.4% of the vote.
Both versions of the district fall entirely within Alameda County in the East Bay region. The current district encompasses Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, and Union City, along with portions of San Leandro, Fremont, and Dublin.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Pacific Time, or 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Associated Press will report vote totals and declare winners in the 14th Congressional District special primary. Any registered voter within the pre-redistricting version of California’s 14th Congressional District is eligible to participate.
As of October 2025, approximately 429,000 voters were registered in the current 14th Congressional District, including around 216,000 Democrats, about 76,000 Republicans, and roughly 114,000 voters with no party preference.
About 214,000 district voters cast ballots in the statewide Proposition 50 measure in November 2025, and around 126,000 cast ballots in the March 2024 primary — the last time the district held a primary under its current boundaries.
In Alameda County, roughly 93% of voters in the March 2024 primary and about 87% of voters in the 2024 general election submitted their ballots either early in person or by mail.
As of Friday, approximately 106,000 ballots had already been submitted for Tuesday’s election. Of those, about 57% came from Democrats, 19% from Republicans, and 20% from voters with no party affiliation.
In Alameda County, the first vote update of the evening typically reflects only mail ballot results, though a significant number of mail ballots usually remain to be counted by the following morning. Because mail voting tends to favor Democrats while in-person Election Day voting tends to favor Republicans, early results could show Democratic candidates leading — with Republican candidates potentially closing that gap as more Election Day votes are tallied. Democrats could also pick up additional ground later as remaining mail ballots are processed after election night.
During the November 4, 2025 special election for Proposition 50, the AP first reported Alameda County results at 11:14 p.m. Eastern — just 14 minutes after polls closed. The final update of that night came at 1:33 a.m. Eastern, with approximately 57% of total votes counted. The county finished tallying about 99% of all votes by November 10.
The AP does not make projections and will only declare a winner once it has been determined that no trailing candidate can mathematically close the gap. If a race remains undeclared, the AP will continue reporting on significant developments such as concessions or victory claims, while making clear that no winner has been officially called and explaining the reason for the delay.
California does not have automatic recounts. Any registered voter may request and fund a recount. The AP may still declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if the margin is determined to be too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the result.
As of Tuesday, 63 days remain until the August 18 special general election for Congressional District 14, and 140 days remain until the November 3 midterm general election.
