A Democratic candidate for Congress finds himself at the center of controversy, facing accusations of embellishing his military service.

Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is currently campaigning for a congressional seat in East San Diego, has gained attention partly due to his notable relationship with Sara Jacobs, a billionaire heiress and current representative.

The controversy erupted when allegations surfaced that Campa-Najjar had exaggerated his Navy service record. Additionally, he is accused of using a Korean War veteran’s grave as a backdrop for campaign photos, a move that has angered many.

The repercussions have been immediate, with several former supporters, including decorated veterans, withdrawing their endorsements.

One such former supporter, Navy combat veteran Elizabeth Perez-Rodriguez, expressed her disapproval in a straightforward statement, declaring, “I have supported Ammar in the past, but I will not do so again.”

Perez-Rodriguez further described his actions as disgraceful.

‘As a combat veteran, I can’t stand when political candidates exploit the uniform for politics and using a veteran’s gravesite in your campaign is toxic and disrespectful,’ Perez–Rodriguez told the New York Post.

Campa–Najjar, who joined the Navy Reserve in 2023, has been accused of potentially breaching military protocol by branding himself a ‘Navy Officer’ in his bid for office. 

Campa–Najjar has been accused of staging shameless photo ops at the Massachusetts National Cemetery

Ammar Campa–Najjar is currently vying for a seat in East San Diego and is known for his high–profile relationship with billionaire Qualcomm heiress Rep. Sara Jacobs

Campa–Najjar, who only joined the Navy Reserve in 2023, has been accused of potentially breaching military protocol by branding himself as a ‘Navy Officer’ in his bid for office 

These strict Navy policies dictate that any reservist hitting the campaign trail must accurately declare their reserve status to avoid misleading the public.

Campa–Najjar has also been accused of staging shameless photo ops at the Massachusetts National Cemetery.

The candidate reportedly used the gravesite of a Korean War veteran, a man with whom he had no relationship, as a political stage, later plastering the images across his campaign website to court voters.

A spokesperson for his campaign informed the Post that while he had no personal relationship with the late Richard K. Stephenson, who passed away in 1997, the candidate snapped the photo while ‘participating in an official Memorial Day event where he, alongside his unit, honored fallen service members.’

‘At no point did the campaign engage in political activity at a VA cemetery, and any suggestion otherwise is a misrepresentation of both the facts and the applicable rules,’ Campa–Najjar’s campaign manager explained to The Post.

‘Our national cemeteries are sacred ground – not political backdrops. Using a service member’s gravesite at a VA cemetery for political campaign photos is among the most disrespectful, distasteful and cynical political ploys I’ve ever seen,’ said Brian Van Riper, another Marine Corps combat veteran.

The Daily Mail has contacted Campa–Najjar for comment. 

It comes after it was previously revealed that his girlfriend, Jacobs, has been accused of using her family’s vast fortune to fund his doomed political campaigns.

US Congresswoman Sara Jacobs poses at the San Diego ‘No Kings’ march on June 14, 2025 in San Diego, California

Ammar Campa-Najjar(D-CA) who is running for congress in California’s 50th district, with supporters during election night at Golden Hall on November 6, 2018 in San Diego, California

Jacobs, 37, who once joked that ‘Congress is basically high school,’ is the granddaughter of the founder of semiconductor company Qualcomm, Irwin M Jacobs. 

The liberal representative and her family have spent more than $200,000 on the three failed campaigns by Amma Campa–Najjar, who she has reportedly been dating since 2019, according to campaign records seen by the Post. 

Campa–Najjar has run for Congress twice and again for mayor of Chula Vista, California, losing on all three occasions.

He received the benefit of Jacobs’ family money each time, with her grandfather Irwin worth $1.2 billion.

Now that he’s running again to serve California’s 48th district in eastern San Diego, the family is backing him once again.

However, the biggest complaints with Campa–Najjar’s campaigns – and Jacobs’ support – are that he has flip flopped on several issues with each run.

Campa–Najjar – the grandson of a man who founded the Palestinian nationalist group Fatah – ran during the 2018 Democrat ‘blue wave’ as an acolyte of socialist Bernie Sanders.

When he ran in 2020, he promised to ‘investigate Trump, Biden [and] Hillary’ while opposing abortion and holding a campaign event with a man who eventually turned up at the January 6 riot.

Sara Jacobs attends the 2024 CARE International Women’s Day Dinner at National Museum of the American Indian on March 13, 2024 in Washington, DC 

Campa–Najjar, a 37–year–old Naval Reserve Officer, has run for Congress twice and again for mayor of Chula Vista, California, losing on all three occasions

He’s apparently returned to being a standard issue liberal again, having said at a campaign event in September that he supports abortion, calling accusations otherwise ‘misinformation.’ 

‘I believe every woman has a right to choose what to do with her own body. Sara would not be with me if that were not true,’ he said, referencing Jacobs. 

Campa–Najjar also tried to use photos of him with a woman and a pair of young children to suggest he was married with a family, with the San Diego Union–Tribune calling him a ‘brazenly cynical ideological chameleon.’

Campa–Najjar is fighting for the seat of retiring incumbent Republican Darrell Issa in a district that has been helped tilt toward the Democrats from Gavin Newsom’s redistricting bill.

The Democrat opponent is San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, while the Republican favorite is Jim Desmond. The primary is set for June 2.