# Letters: Melissa Hernandez’s label for Aisha Wahab falls flat > Source: > Published: 2026-06-18 23:30:23+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...**Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.** #### ‘Far-left’ tag shows Wahab’s effectiveness Re: “[Running to finish Swalwell’s term](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/14/special-election-tuesday-to-fill-swalwell-term/)” (Page B1, June 14). In the article, state Senator Aisha Wahab was called “an extreme far-left legislator” by opponent Melissa Hernandez. By her logic, her endorsers, the California Democratic Party, Indivisible, Our Revolution, Working Family Party, labor unions and lots of elected officials, are also “extreme far-left.” Senator Wahab’s record shows that she has been fighting for the people to lower the cost of living, to hold ICE accountable, to protect marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ people and to strengthen public safety and democracy. I have no problem being labeled as a “progressive” or “extreme far-left” organizer if her work is the example of the label. But some might, and they are the ones you have to work with when elected. While one has no control over independent expenditures, the fact that corporations and dark money are going against Wahab proves that she has done a good job as a senator. I urge you to vote for Aisha Wahab. **Kyoko Takayama** *Livermore* #### Skipping vote isn’t how we do things Re: “[Becerra’s ‘coronation’ appears inevitable](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/15/letters-trump-taxpayers-bail-out-oakland-coal-project/)” (Page A6, June 16). Bill Behan thinks we should just skip the election and “crown Becerra governor.” Hmm, skipping elections and crowning a person the victor without the democratic process of voting. Sounds exactly like what one political party is accusing the other political party of wanting to do. You know who else thought the “outcome is a given” for an election? Eric Swalwell. Look how that turned out. I’d be interested to know if Bill feels the same way about other elections, perhaps in Brentwood, statewide and nationwide, where one political party has a large advantage in voter registration. Plenty of other countries offer an election process where the votes do not matter much. Maybe Bill should move to one of those countries if the democratic voting process does not suit his style. **Devin Foley** *Fremont* #### East Bay homes need thorough inspections East Bay homeowners are getting a false sense of security about their foundations and earthquake safety. As a local contractor who spends most days in the crawl spaces beneath older homes, I routinely see serious problems that are missed by standard home inspections and quick “free estimates.” Sloping floors, sticking doors and seasonal movement in our clay soils are often dismissed as “normal settling,” but sometimes they are early warnings of foundation or drainage issues that will only get more expensive to fix. With earthquake risk and aging housing stock in the East Bay, we should be encouraging deeper structural and drainage evaluations before and during real estate transactions, not just surface-level checks. I’d like to see more public discussion about what a thorough foundation and seismic evaluation should include, so buyers and longtime owners can make informed decisions instead of guesses. **Matthew Gatterman** *San Leandro* #### Musk should put his fortune to work Re: “[Musk is first trillionaire](https://apnews.com/article/musk-spacex-tesla-ipo-trillionaire-billionaire-worth-rockets-7723f82b6063a9a17c194e25982cd66d)” (Page A1, June 13). I would like to acknowledge the fantastic achievement and continuing engineering brilliance of Elon Musk. No doubt in my mind that he was partly driven by competition with Jeff Bezos, et.al., to get to the elusive trillion-dollar mark — but look what we got: the belief that great things can be attained by taking great calculated risks and a convincing sales pitch. Fintech innovations, electric cars, Starlink, SpaceX, etc., have helped transform our economy. He truly seems to be the pivotal change agent of our time. Kudos to you, Elon, even after the heartless damage to political institutions that protect and defend the disadvantaged. A few weeks ago, he said that the jobs eliminated by AI would require some form of guaranteed income. Now is the time for him to put a little bit of his money where his mouth is and lead an effort to begin this process. **Harry Fish** *Moraga* #### Trump is fine with regulating regular folks Re: “[Trump Medicaid cuts keep getting harsher](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/16/jarvis-trumps-medicaid-cuts-keep-getting-more-harmful/)” (Page A7, June 16) Donald Trump and Republicans always claim to detest regulations, but apparently that only applies to businesses, not us citizens. The op-ed article is overflowing with new regulations on people seeking basic healthcare and on medical providers desperately trying to stay open after Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” People must reject these draconian regulations in the midterms and throw those mean-spirited Republicans out of office. **Edward Chainey** *Richmond*