A 28-year-old Palestinian American, on Tuesday, won the state elections in California, one of the eight key democratic states, as US citizens in California, New Jersey, Iowa, Montana, Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota, and New Mexico this week are voting for who they believe best represents their political party.
The winners of the primary will elect their preferred candidate–Democratic or Republican– in November. The results of the election in November could change the balance of power in Washington, and could upend Trumps presidency.
The winner, Ammar Campa-Najjar has been dubbed by Teen Vogue as “the internet’s favorite candidate.” He was born in the United States, to a Palestinian father and a Mexican mother, and grew up close to the Mexican-US border. His background puts him in a unique position to represent the 50th Congressional District in California.
After graduating from San Diego State University, where Campa-Najjar began his career in U.S. politics with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). His ambition led him to becoming the deputy regional field director for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign before joining the Obama administration as a White House official. He also worked for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as a communications and marketing director, and as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Department of Labor as a public affairs officer. He is dedicated to encouraging young people to vote and bringing quality jobs to the members of his district. He has been favored to win the primary election and is favored to win against current Congressman, Duncan Hunter in November.
Campa-Najjar isn’t the only Palestinian running in this year’s US election cycle, according to the PNN. Candidates can be found across the United States, and the United States isn’t the only country with Palestinians partaking in public office. Latin America has had two previous presidents and a prime minister of Palestinian heritage; Elías Antonio Saca of El Salvador, Carlos Flores Facussé of Honduras, and Said Musa of Belize.
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