Ammar Campa-Najjar

Ammar Campa-Najjar (born February 24, 1989) is an American perennial candidate, U.S. Naval reserve officer, and former Obama official at the United States Department of Labor. Campa-Najjar has once been a candidate for local office and three times been a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, most recently in the 2026 election for California's 48th congressional district, where he failed to advance from the primary.

Early life and education

Background and family Campa-Najjar was born in La Mesa, California, and raised in Jamul and Chula Vista, California. His father, Yasser Najjar, is Palestinian, and his mother, Abigail Campa, is Mexican American and a practicing Catholic.

Yasser moved to San Diego in 1981 and earned an MBA from San Diego State University. Abigail Campa grew up in Logan Heights and she and Yasser married in the 1980s. In 1994, Yasser traveled to Gaza to work for the newly legitimized Palestinian National Authority and to explore his family's roots. While working for the PNA, he was seen as a moderate who advocated for peace who was an internal critic of Palestinian hardliners in his later years. During his time in Gaza, he attempted to counteract the rising influence of Hamas.

Campa-Najjar's grandfather Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar, also known as "Abu Youssef", co-founded Fatah alongside Yasser Arafat and other exiled Palestinians working in Kuwait in 1965.

In February 2018, a book published by Israeli investigative journalist Ronen Bergman, Rise and Kill First, challenged the assumption that those targeted in Operation Wrath of God were behind the Munich massacre. In 2019, in response to the new information, Campa-Najjar withdrew some of the condemnations he had made against his grandfather.

Education In 1997, when he was eight, Campa-Najjar and his family moved to the Gaza Strip. After living in Gaza for four years, he, his mother, and brother moved back to San Diego County. When he was 15, Campa-Najjar worked as a janitor to help his single mother pay bills. While in high school, he converted from Islam to Christianity.

Campa-Najjar attended community college at Southwestern College, and earned a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and psychology from San Diego State University.

Career Campa-Najjar worked as a deputy regional field director for the Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign. During the Obama administration, Campa-Najjar was a White House intern and worked in the Labor Department's Office of Public Affairs for the Employment and Training Administration. As a White House intern, his clerical responsibilities included reading and helping select letters that President Obama would read each day.

He also worked for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as the communications and marketing director. In this capacity, he prepared to interview then-candidate Donald Trump, who ultimately pulled out of the scheduled event, despite having earlier told Geraldo Rivera in an interview that he would attend. Following the election, NBC News and The San Diego Union-Tribune published his op ed, with a slightly different version published by The Washington Post a few days later, expressing his faith in America despite Trump's election. "Let's not seek comfort in the easy traps of either normalizing or demonizing the decision half of America has made. We must do what is hard, what is necessary and what is right." He has advocated for apprenticeship programs that pay people as they learn, for example the Registered Apprenticeship job training initiative, which has bipartisan support.

2018 congressional campaign Campa-Najjar supports solar farms. Campa-Najjar advocated for registering young people to vote, especially those who would be 18 by 2018, because they would be on the receiving end of climate change and increasing levels of indebtedness. His top domestic issue was training Americans to fill job vacancies, and his top international issue was the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and he opposed Trump's suggested wall with Mexico and travel ban. He cited economic inequality as a top issue facing California, "other than the severe droughts and fires." On June 5, 2018, Campa-Najjar placed second in the nonpartisan blanket primary, earning a chance to compete against Hunter in November. The Union-Tribune endorsed Campa-Najjar, citing the "lunacy" of incumbent Hunter.

Campa-Najjar lost the 2018 election with 48.3% of the votes to Hunter's 51.7%. During the contest, the Hunter campaign ran an ad in which it claimed that Campa-Najjar had received support from the Council on American–Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood. PolitiFact found the claim to be false. In October 2018, Duncan L. Hunter, father of Duncan D. Hunter, attacked Campa-Najjar as a security risk.

Campa-Najjar's candidacy attracted international attention due to allegations that his grandfather was involved with the Munich massacre. He acknowledged and denounced the alleged crimes of his grandfather, who died 16 years before he was born. Campa-Najjar's campaign received a notable degree of coverage following the indictment of his opponent for stealing campaign funds for personal use. Hunter's scandal gave his campaign a boost. Campa-Najjar did not blame bigotry for his defeat.

2020 congressional campaign In 2019, Campa-Najjar announced that he would run for the same seat again in 2020. He announced his candidacy on Twitter a day after filing his paperwork with the FEC. He stated that his 2020 campaign would run on the dual platform of economic security and national security. Campa-Najjar said that for the election he would make a more concerted effort to reach out to conservative voters, especially veterans.

Initially characterized as a progressive during his 2018 run, Campa-Najjar walked back his support of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, calling the latter "impractical". In October 2020, a podcaster posted screenshots purporting to show Campa-Najjar identifying as a blue dog Democrat who intended to become an independent if elected in 2020.

Campa-Najjar appeared in a radio interview with Defend East County founder Justin Haskin. In his interview with KPBS, Campa-Najjar, whose heritage is Latino and Palestinian, said he wanted to sit down with Haskins to address specific issues. They include racist and conspiratorial views of him promulgated by members of Defend East County.

Under election rules in California, the top two vote-getters in the March 3, 2020, primary, regardless of party affiliation, later faced each other in the general election. Campa-Najjar placed first in the primary, and faced a November runoff election against Republican former Congressman Darrell Issa. Polls show a competitive election in the 50th district, which the Union-Tribune described as "a statistical dead heat".

The newspaper endorsed Campa-Najjar, citing him as "a breath of fresh air," in contrast to long-term congressman Issa "saying derogatory things". Campa-Najjar eventually lost to Issa.

2022 mayoral campaign In 2022, Campa-Najjar unsuccessfully ran for the position of mayor of Chula Vista, California — a city in San Diego County's South Bay region that is outside the congressional district in which he previously claimed residency.

In the June primary election, Campa-Najjar received 22.56% of the vote, enabling him to progress to the general election. His opponent was John McCann, a city councilman. McCann was elected mayor with 52% of the vote to Campa-Najjar's 48%.

U.S. Navy Reserve On August 31, 2023, Ammar Campa-Najjar was sworn in as an officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He was sworn in aboard the USS Midway Museum, which he described as surreal because at the same site in 2018, Duncan D. Hunter held a press conference and made racially charged attacks against Campa-Najjar.

2026 congressional campaign In August 2025, Campa-Najjar announced that he would run for the newly proposed redrawn 48th Congressional District if Prop. 50 passed. He was eliminated in the primary election, placing third.

Personal life Campa-Najjar considers himself to be Latino and Arab American, and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Arabic.

As of June 2026, Campa-Najjar is dating U.S. representative Sara Jacobs. The two met in 2018 when both were running for Congress.