A flood of cash from a San Diego heiress and her billionaire family couldn’t save Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar from another mortifying election defeat — after he won just 10% of the vote in a key primary contest.
Campa-Najjar bowed out of the congressional primary in California’s 48th district, representing East San Diego, after an abysmal third-place showing put him behind Republican Jim Desmond and fellow Democrat Marni Von Wilpert, who won 42% and 20% of the vote, respectively.
San Diego Rep. Sara Jacobs’ billionaire grandfather, Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, had poured at least $800,000 into Campa-Najjar’s doomed congressional bid. It marked his fourth election loss in a row after members of the wealthy Jacobs clan bankrolled his two prior runs for Congress and one failed bid for mayor of Chula Vista.
Campa-Najjar, a Naval Reserve officer and grandson of a Palestinian militant, blamed his defeat on “outside and foreign influences.”
“While my political career is permanently over, I’m deeply grateful to the voters and supporters who let me into their lives and enriched mine,” he said in a statement.
The Jacobs family have spent more than $200,000 on Campa-Najjar’s failed campaigns, which were tainted by bizarre political flip-flops.
Campa-Najjar has worked as a self-described “consultant” and has dated Jacobs since approximately 2019, according to media reports.
He first ran for Congress as a Bernie Sanders-style progressive in 2018 before embracing MAGA positions like opposition to gun control in his subsequent 2020 race.
He then ran for mayor of Chula Vista in 2022 and lost to Republican John McCann in the heavily Democratic city before enlisting in the Naval Reserve the following year.
Campa-Najjar took heat for allegedly abusing his military status in campaign materials, even posting a glamour shot of himself saluting at a deceased veteran’s grave on Memorial Day last year in a move vets called disrespectful.
His shifting positions and losing record earned eye-rolls from fellow Democrats and online critics who suggested he was being propped up by his wealthy girlfriend.
“He cannot win. Not even his Qualcomm sugar mama could buy him a seat,” one person wrote on X.
Jacobs’ spokesperson previously told The California Post that she never told colleagues to back her boyfriend.
“She hasn’t asked her colleagues for endorsements — in fact, she’s told her colleagues explicitly not to endorse because of her, so there’s no ambiguity, pressure, or sense of obligation,” spokesperson Lauren McIlvaine told The Post.
Von Wilpert, a San Diego council member, will face off against county supervisor Desmond in the closely watched November runoff as Dems try to take back control of the House of Representatives.
“The DNC is ready to help her flip this seat from red to blue, take back the House, and deliver for communities across California,” said Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin in a statement.
Republican National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Christian Martinez accused Von Wilpert in a statement of “backing higher taxes and the same failed policies that drove up costs and made California unaffordable.”
“San Diegans can’t afford another politician who will bring Sacramento’s failures to Washington,” he added.
