Campa-Najjar Violates DoD Regs on Military Candidates

By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large

A perennial candidate running for Congress may have violated a Department of Defense directive regarding military personnel who run for elected office.

Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is a candidate for Congress in the 48th District in North County, posted a Facebook message this week promoting his campaign and included a lone picture of himself in a military uniform.

Ammar Campa-Najjar

 

Campa-Najjar received a direct commission as a restricted line officer in the US Navy Reserves in 2023, and is currently an Ensign, the lowest commissioned officer rank in the Navy. As a new officer, Campa-Najjar's uniform does not include any service ribbons, medals, or decorations. 

A small disclaimer at the bottom of the social media post states that “Ammar Campa-Najjar is a member of the U.S. Navy. Use of his military rank, job, titles, and photograph in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or by the Department of Defense.”

Campa-Najjar may have violated two separate sections of Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 with his Facebook post, as well as with other campaign literature, his website, and several posts reviewed by La Prensa San Diego.

Directive 1344.10 outlines the restrictions and requirements for military personnel who run or hold public office.    

Section 4.3.1 states that “Members not on active duty who are nominees or candidates for the offices...may use or mention, or permit the use or mention of, their military rank or grade and military service affiliation; BUT they must clearly indicate their retired or reserve status.”

Department of Defense Directive 1344.10

 

The “BUT” is capitalized in the Directive, and requires that non-active duty military members clearly indicate their Reserve status.

Campa-Najjar did not mention his Reserve status on the Facebook post, on his website, or in other campaign materials.

Campa-Najjar's campaign website: www.ammarforcongress.com

 

The Directive also requires that the disclaimer of non-endorsement by the military must be “prominent and clearly displayed” and include the proper US branch, department, and status,

 

Department of Defense Directive 1344.10

 

Campa-Najjar’s disclaimer on his social media post and at the bottom of his website are not prominent and do not include his Reserve status.

Campa-Najjar's campaign website

 

Additionally, Section 4.3.2.1 also states that military members cannot “use or allow the use of photographs...of themselves in uniform as the primary graphic representation in any campaign media.”

Department of Defense Directive 1344.10

 

The Facebook post from this week only included one picture, which is of Campa-Najjar in his white US Navy dress uniform.

Campa-Najjar's Facebook post, March 9, 2026

 

Campa-Najjar is running for Congress in the 48th District, currently held by Congressman Darrell Issa. The District includes the areas of Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Pala, Temecula, Pal, Springs, and Borrego Springs.

Issa decided not to file to run for re-election before last week's deadline, so the filing period was extended until Friday, March 13.

Last Friday, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond filed to run in the 48th District after his home was reapportioned from the 49th District by Proposition 30, a statewide ballot measure passed by voters in November. 

Jim Desmond

 

Desmond was already running for Congress in the 49th District against incumbent Mike Levin, but shifted seats to run in the district where he lives. Desmond has represented the 5th District on the Board of Supervisors for nearly eight years after having served twelve years as San Marcos Mayor and two years on the City Council, all of which are within the 48th District.

Before being elected to office, Desmond served as an Aviation Technician in the U.S. Navy and later became a commercial airline pilot, retiring in 2020 after more than 34 years in the cockpit.

Campa-Najjar lives and is registered to vote at the Kensington-area home of Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, who represents her 51st District, where his home is located.

Sara Jacobs

 

Jacobs and Campa-Najjar have been dating for several years.

Under federal law, candidates for Congress only have to live and be registered to vote in their home state, not necessarily in the district where they run.

Campa-Najjar previously ran for Congress in 2018 and 2020, having lost to Congressman Duncan D. Hunter and then Issa, respectively. 

In both of those campaigns, Campa-Najjar used his mother’s home in Jamul as his voter registration location, calling himself a “Jamuligan” for having been raised in the rural East County community.

But, then in 2020, Campa-Najjar ran for Mayor of Chula Vista using the address of his grandmother’s condo in Chula Vista, where he had lived when he attended Eastlake High School. In that campaign, Campa-Najjar highlighted his childhood having been raised in the South Bay.

His opponent in that race, Councilman John McCann, released surveillance videos showing Campa-Najjar living at Jacobs’ San Diego condo for months leading up to the election.

McCann, a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves, defeated Campa-Najjar by a margin of more than four percentage points.

After his third election loss, Campa-Najjar applied for the commission to the U.S. Navy.

At the time of his appointment, Jacobs was serving on the House Armed Services Committee, which approves military funding.

Last August, Campa-Najjar began referring to himself as an “educator” after announcing he was “teaching” at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Campa-Najjar is not a professor; he is a graduate student and serves as a teaching assistant.

Another candidate in the race for the 48th District is San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert, who is finishing her second four-year term. Von Wilpert is a lawyer and former congressional staffer, but also does not live within the boundaries of the 48th District.

Marni von Wilpert

 

Issa previously served nine terms in Congress representing another North County district from 2000 to 2018 before taking a two-year hiatus from Congress. In 2020, Issa returned to Congress when he won the election to represent his current district by defeating incumbent Duncan D. Hunter, who was under indictment for campaign finance violations. Issa was re-elected in 2022 and 2024.