Ammar Campa-Najjar has been campaigning to represent California’s 50th District for four years. He ran for the same seat in 2018 and lost to his Republican challenger, Duncan Hunter. Now, Campa-Najjar faces off with Republican Darrell Issa. In the primary election in March, Campa-Najjar got 36.5 percent of the vote, and Darrell Issa got 23.1 percent, according to Ballotpedia. 

“It’s very interesting that now we have two Arab-Americans running for Congress. No matter who wins—I think it’s going to be me—we’re going to have an Arab-American Congressman in the 50th District for the first time ever. Especially in the kind of race we had in 2018, I never really thought that was going to be the case. Now in 2020, it just shows how times change,” Campa-Najjar said.

Campa-Najjar was raised by his single, working class mother.

“She’s a Latina, Catholic woman,” he said. “I took a job at my local church to help my mom make ends meet. I worked as a janitor there and got a great public education thanks to your viewers at San Diego State University. And then I got to live beyond my wildest dreams—beyond my zip code, 91935—which for many people of color is not usually the case. Sometimes your zip code determines your destiny."

"But despite that, I was able to leave Jamul temporarily and go to Washington D.C., work in the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, paying homage to my mother’s side, to represent four million Spanish-owned businesses that collectively contributed one trillion dollars a year to the economy. And then I worked on the jobs side of the economy after working in commerce, so I worked in the U.S. Department of Labor, helping people earn while they learn and push their ticket to the middle class and beyond through retraining and retooling.”

Campa-Najjar started his own small business and then decided to run for Congress. He ran in 2018 and is going for it again in 2020 because he wants to give back to his community.

“I am who I am today in large part because of my mother, but I’m also proud of the fact that as an Arab-American, I speak Arabic, I understand the culture, but I’m first and foremost 100% American,” Campa-Najjar said. “I’m excited to represent the flag behind me in Congress and everything that we believe in as patriots.”

Campa-Najjar said he’s committed to fight for the working class.

“I think this district is unique in the sense that we have a very strong sense of place and purpose. Where you’re from… it tells you what you’re about,” he said. “And you know, I was born and raised in East County. I’m a ‘Jamuligan.’ I’ve been going all over the district, talking to people in North County, San Diego and Temecula… We’ve been really taking to the streets, talking to people about our ‘country over party’ message, and this notion of wanting to reward work, not just wealth. And that’s a deep contrast between me and my opponent. I come from a working background. I worked my whole life. My opponent did start from a working background, but now he’s worth half a billion dollars. I’ve spent the past four years campaigning, talking to people, listening to them. And I could tell you right now: I’m a better candidate now than I was four years ago because of listening to the voters.”

Campa-Najjar said he'll be the voice of the 50th District in Washington.

“If you actually think about, how do I try to understand people more than I want to be understood, and that’s the difference between a constituent and a servant leader, and the difference between me and my opponent is I know the 50th and the 50th knows me. We know Darrell. He cut and run from a district, and I’ve doubled down. And when small businesses shutter, I know the people who ran it. When someone loses their job, there’s a good chance I know them by name,” he said.

Darrell Issa has called Campa-Najjar a “DINO,” or a “Democrat in name only.” He also said Campa-Najjar has changed his opinions to move in a more moderate direction to win votes. Campa-Najjar disagrees.

“I haven’t changed my views and my convictions. What’s happened is I’m a better candidate now than I was four years ago. That’s what happens when you run for office. That’s what happens throughout a lifetime of service,” Campa-Najjar said. “My hope is that he’s improved as a congressman over time, or has he just stayed the same? The reality is he’s changed positions quicker than he changes districts.”

In 2000, Issa was elected to serve California’s 48th District. From 2002 to 2018, Issa represented California’s 49th District, according to Ballotpedia. Two years after deciding not to run for re-election, Issa is vying for California’s 50th District seat.

Campa-Najjar said he doesn’t bow down to President Donald Trump but is willing to work with him.

“The core difference between me and my opponent is he worships at the altar of a politician. I will work with anybody, including President Trump, to deliver for my district, and I’ve worked with him before. In his first 100 days in office—CNN reported it, I was there—I met with President Trump and his administration, and we worked on talking about infrastructure, small business tax cuts, immigration reform, reducing red tape, and all the things that I believe in as a candidate. So not only am I willing to work with President Trump if he’s elected—we don’t know yet, we’ll find out—but I have. So I will work with him where I agree, but I will not work with him where I disagree.”

Campa-Najjar wants to bring more federal funding to California, especially for wildfire prevention. He recently evacuated his home during the Valley Fire.

“We need to have fire relief. We need to have fire assistance in our district," he said. "And the thing is, California pays more federal taxes than any other state in the union. We don’t get out of the system what we put into it. We’re subsidizing other smaller states. It’s time that we have somebody in Congress who will bring back our federal dollars and invest in our communities—invest in our housing, education, healthcare, and yes, in our public safety, first responders, fire relief, assistance, and prevention."

"And I make no qualms about it. On that issue, me and Congressman Darrell Issa and President Trump—the way he and him are just in agreement on everything, all the time—I break rank with the President on this, and I will not let him not give us our due resources to save people from wildfires because I’ve seen people struggle. I’ve seen people lose their livestock and their livelihoods, and that’s more important to me to defend than trying to defend a politician in Washington.”

Read about Campa-Najjar’s opponent, Darrell Issa, here. 

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