It might seem odd running against an indicted congressman and still being the underdog. That’s what Ammar Campa-Najjar is, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

To say he’s trending is putting it mildly.

It was as if the indictment Tuesday of Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, on charges related to personal use of campaign funds flipped a switch. Campa-Najjar, a little-known Democrat, was suddenly in demand for interviews by news media large and small across the country.

At the same time, he was getting attention from high-profile Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and congressional nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Now, the notion that backing from one of the most liberal U.S. senators and a democratic socialist would help in one of the most Republican districts in the county is hard to fathom. So don’t count on campaign visits from either. But they did encourage their large Twitter followings to contribute to Campa-Najjar. That won’t hurt.


The 50th Congressional District is not hospitable territory for Democrats. Trump won the district in 2016 by 15 points, which is about the same advantage in voter registration for Republicans. It has been represented by Duncan Hunter for five terms and his father, also Duncan Hunter, for 14 terms before him.

People are very used to voting for a Hunter, and some constituents recently said they plan to continue doing that, stressing that an indictment is not a conviction. That’s how strong the Hunter brand is in the district that covers San Diego County’s east and north inland region, and stretches into southern Riverside County.

And that’s why it’s not a terrible surprise that most analysts believe Hunter is still the favorite. But the race has become competitive and was never supposed to be.

“We’re in a different place right now,” Campa-Najjar said. “The past is not a prologue.”


Though he was speaking following the indictment, he was referring to the broader political trends across the country. He likes to point to upset Democratic victories on very Republican turf: Doug Jones for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama and Conor Lamb for a House seat in Pennsylvania. Both were special elections, and Jones ran against a scandalized Republican, Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls. Those may have been unique circumstances, but so is Campa-Najjar’s.

“You’ve seen us flip the unflippable,” said Campa-Najjar, 29, who worked as a public information aide in President Barack Obama’s Labor Department.

Since the beginning of his campaign, Campa-Najjar has laid out this platform: He backs Medicare for all if it doesn’t increase the federal debt, free college tuition based on need and pay equity. He doesn’t support the disbanding of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, but wants protections for unauthorized immigrants brought here as children. He opposes offshore oil drilling.

The Hunter indictment and media flurry it generated has allowed Campa-Najjar to reboot his campaign and introduce himself to a broader field of voters. Still, he has some big hurdles to clear.


One is convincing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to go big in the 50th district. That may seem like a given, with an opponent who has been politically wounded so badly. But there are a lot of other Republican seats in California and other states that Democrats believe are more winnable, and the committee may be reluctant to divert resources to Campa-Najjar

Such determinations will be based on a complex equation to figure out the best path for Democrats to gain a majority in Congress. These dynamics are never static.

Provided polling in the coming weeks shows him within striking distance, Campa-Najjar’s notable fundraising also may help his case with the party. He has raised more than $1 million as of June 30, according to inewsource, and he said he recently raised $60,000 in one day. Hunter has raised more than $850,000, but given his name identification, familiarity and past support, he probably wouldn’t need to spend as much as his opponent to win. However, Hunter also has to pay huge legal bills.

Hunter finished the June 5 primary with more than 47 percent of the vote, 30 points ahead of Campa-Najjar. “My mission was to get into the top two, not beat Duncan,” he said.


Still, Hunter and the other Republican candidates received a total of more than 62 percent of the vote, while Democrats collectively gained more than 36 percent. Campa-Najjar has said all along he needs to compete for Republican votes, including disaffected Trump voters, particularly women.

How Campa-Najjar’s ethnic makeup — he’s a Palestinian-Mexican-American — plays in the conservative district may be another hurdle. No one likes to make assumptions about voter bias, but he’s a different kind of candidate than they’re use to, in addition to being a Democrat.

“I’m unapologetic about who I am. . .my ethnic background is not a liability, it’s an asset,” said Campa-Najjar, noting the large Latino and Chaldean populations in the district.

That didn’t keep him from finishing in the primary ahead of retired Navy SEAL Josh Butner, a Democrat some analysts thought was a better fit for the district because of his military background.


Nor did revelations about a grandfather Campa-Najjar never met named Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar, who was one of the leaders of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics that left 11 athletes and coaches dead. He was killed by Israeli commandos in 1973.

Campa-Najjar, who often refers to his Christian faith, disavowed the acts of his grandfather when an Israeli newspaper broke the story in February. He also urged peace in the Middle East

“Palestinians and Israelis will have to make the same personal choice I’ve had to make: Leave the dark past behind so that the future shines brighter through the eyes of our children,” Campa-Najjar told the Union-Tribune.

He no doubt is prepared for all of that to come up again before November. For now, he is focusing on Hunter’s legal predicament and history, and doing so in a nuanced way.


“We need a congressman who brings national pride, not national shame,” he said, adding, “I do feel for him. I don’t crow over someone’s misery.”

He regularly states his appreciation for Hunter’s service in the Marines, but in a that-was-then context.

“I think he stopped being the noble man who served,” Campa-Najjar said.

The indictment against Hunter is sweeping and its details are devastating. But throughout the long investigation, a lot of constituents have given him the benefit of the doubt and many still do.


It’s probably good politics that Campa-Najjar is treating the Hunter name with a measure of respect.

Tweet of the Week

Goes to Abby Hamblin (@abbyhamblin) of Union-Tribune Ideas.

“Out interviewing people in Santee about Rep. Hunter and the first three people we talked to voted for him and were most frustrated that he ‘threw his wife under the bus.’”