In a special election to replace Eric Swalwell in the California congressional seat he was forced to resign due to allegations of sexual misconduct, a progressive easily defeated a party establishment and Israel lobby backed candidate.

[Aisha] Wahab defeated Melissa Hernandez, a fellow Democrat who is on the Bay Area Rapid Transit board of directors, in the special election after the two got the most votes in the June 16 primary. The race moved to a one-on-one contest after no one secured a majority.

Wahab took 43% to Hernandez’s 17% in the initial primary, but Tuesday’s election was much closer. With 95% of the expected vote in, Wahab led 53% to 47%.

A super PAC aligned with the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent heavily in the race’s final weeks, dropping about $2.5 million against Wahab.

Wahab has said Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza is genocide, and her campaign website includes a statement panning “AIPAC-linked dark-money PACs” trying to “tear Aisha Wahab down.” Hernandez, meanwhile, was the only candidate who did not answer “yes” when she was asked at an April forum whether Israel was committing genocide.

AIPAC and the other members of the Israel lobby are by no means eliminated as a factor but their once-mighty clout in politics has definitely been diminished.