VOTE AMMAR CAMPA-NAJJAR FOR CONGRESS
The 50th Congressional District — in eastern and east-central San Diego County and part of Riverside County — was represented for nearly 40 years by conservative Republicans Duncan Hunter and his son — until Duncan D. Hunter resigned in January after being convicted in a campaign fundraising scandal he dismissed as fake news for years. Unfortunately, the two candidates vying to replace him aren’t quite able to tell it like it is themselves.
Still, one — Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar — fails this test as many politicians before him have — with a finger in the wind — and the other — Republican Darrell Issa — fails it unacceptably.
They both have strengths. Both used social media during last month’s quickly spreading wildfires to offer assistance, with Campa-Najjar even sharing his cellphone number for any constituent to contact. Both are whip-smart with a firm grasp on the issues and a f lair for explaining them, which makes their faults all the more disappointing.
Campa-Najjar — who nearly defeated the younger Hunter in 2018 — is a 31-year-old former White
House fellow and former communications director of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is an East County native and San Diego State graduate and, as a person of Palestinian and Mexican
American descent, would be a breath of fresh air in a
Congress still dominated by older White men. Yet on certain issues, it’s fair to question his convictions.
In 2018, Campa-Najjar told The San Diego Union
Tribune Editorial Board that he backed Medicare for All and bashed “big oil,” “big pharma” and the gun rights lobby. He vowed to “stand up to Trump.”
He offered thoughtful takes on education, vocational training and apprenticeships, and seemed ready to hit the ground running in the House, a tall task for a 29-year-old. After writing in the primary election that we would endorse “anyone but Duncan
Hunter” in the runoff, we endorsed Campa-Najjar.
But in an interview with us before the March 2020 primary, Campa-Najjar tried to recast his entire ideology, declaring three times that if elected he would be the “most conservative congressman in
San Diego.” He couldn’t clearly articulate his views on disgraced former Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher and declined to take a stand on the then-pending impeachment of President Donald Trump.
For a Democrat running in a region typically represented by conservative Republicans, this all may make tactical sense. But it opens him up to claims of opportunism. In February, we wrote that
“he should own his reasonably centrist lane.”
Nonetheless, now as in 2018, the editorial board endorses him. Issa, a former nine-term North
County Republican congressman, advanced to the
November general election after a repulsive primary campaign gay-bashing his chief GOP rival, former
San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio. Issa, 66, a wealthy entrepreneur, had previously repeatedly won our endorsement as an effective lawmaker whose tech savvy and willingness to work with San
Diego Democrats was good for the region.
But using a political opponent’s sexual orientation against them is a remnant from a long, ugly era in which Republicans — most notably President
George W. Bush in his 2004 re-election bid — touted opposition to gay marriage as a way to get cultural and religious conservatives — and flat-out homophobes — to the polls. In January, we wrote that it is
“a searing comment on Issa’s character that the former Vista congressman would try to take advantage of hateful views of the LGBTQ+ community.”
In our interview in September, Issa called it “a learning experience” and “a colossal mistake,” but the way he defended his ads when first criticized about it in the primary should not be forgotten. Issa’s continuing strong support of Trump, who has done great harm to the country by mocking masks, mismanaging the pandemic response and criticizing the election system, is nearly as troubling. In our interview, Issa also defended Trump calling the novel coronavirus “the China virus” and “took umbrage” at our characterization of it as xenophobia.
“It did come out of China, but the term ‘kung f lu’ also came out of the president’s mouth,” Campa
Najjar said in describing language like the president’s as “completely unacceptable.” That’s right.
Maybe Campa-Najjar is willing to say anything to get elected, but he’s not saying derogatory things. At less than half Issa’s age, he has the potential for a long and productive life in politics. We recommend voters in the district choose Ammar Campa-Najjar.