Challenger wants to fill perceived void

Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Naj­jar, 29, said he thinks constitu­ents feel neglected by

Con­gressman Duncan Hunter Jr.

“I talk to a lot of voters that say ‘You know Congressman Hunter might be a congress­man, but he’s no representative of mine’ because they haven’t laid eyes on him for almost two years,” Campa-Najjar said.

Alpine residents will, however, have an opportunity to lay eyes on Campa-Najjar this weekend during a campaign meet-and-greet.

Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Naj­jar, 29, said he thinks constitu­ents feel neglected by

Con­gressman Duncan Hunter Jr.

“I talk to a lot of voters that say ‘You know Congressman Hunter might be a congress­man, but he’s no representative of mine’ because they haven’t laid eyes on him for almost two years,” Campa-Najjar said.

Alpine residents will, however, have an opportunity to lay eyes on Campa-Najjar this weekend during a campaign meet-and-greet.

The Saturday afternoon af­fair will provide the Democrat an opportunity to meet voters in a deep red Republican district and Hunter stronghold.

“When I go to these meet and greets there’s republicans, there’s independents, there’s democrats, there’s all kinds of people and we don’t talk about our personal politics,” Campa-Najjar said. “I talk about, you know, their personal health, their personal safety, their per­sonal financial dignity, things that transcend politics, things that matter more than just what team you’re on.”

Campa-Najjar, whose mother is Mexican American and father is Palestinian American, grew up in San Diego until his

fam­ily moved to Gaza, Palestine for four years when Campa-Najjar was 8 years old.

He and his family returned to San Diego in August 2001 after it was no longer safe to stay in Gaza.

“I was raised by my mom, a single working-class mom, who raised me on her own, and be­cause of her and many others I was able to kind of live beyond my zipcode and get opportuni­ties that for people like us, and communities like ours and even Alpine, are hard to come by,” Campa said.

He graduated from San Diego State University in 2012 where he triple majored in political sci­ence, philosophy and psycholo­gy, after taking time off to serve as the Deputy Regional Field Director for President Obama’s re-election campaign in San Di­ego.

He later worked in the Obama administration.

The cornerstones of Campa-Najjar’s campaign include mov­ing towards universal health­care, comprehensive immigra­tion reform, environmental pro­tection and election reform.

Campa-Najjar is also focused on protecting public schools, promoting alternatives to four year college and advocating to secure more funding for the 50th district’s community col­leges, according to his website.