SAN DIEGO — San Diego City Councilmember and 48th Congressional candidate Marni von Wilpert is lambasting fellow Democratic opponent Ammar Campa-Najjar over a campaign memo that she says is anti-LGBTQ, due to its implication that LGBTQ candidates in the region struggle to receive support outside of Palm Springs.
Campa-Najjar and von Wilpert are among the eight Democrats seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Darrell Issa from the seat representing the 48th, which was redrawn following last year’s passage of Proposition 50. The new district lost portions of San Diego County and added portions of Riverside County, including Palm Springs.
Campa-Najjar, a veteran and former U.S. Department of Labor official, previously lost to Issa in 2020. He has also had unsuccessful campaigns for Chula Vista mayor in 2022 and the 50th Congressional District in 2018.
First reported on by national LGBTQ+ publication The Advocate, Campa-Najjar’s memo, titled “Fact Check: Setting the Record Straight on Marni von Wilpert,” listed several arguments as to why von Wilpert will be unable to flip the seat from red to blue.
One section listed three former candidates in various state- and federal-level races —Will Rollins, Christy Holstege, and Lisa Middleton — who he said did not win their respective elections “due to their inability to reach voters beyond Palm Springs,” which is known as an LGBTQ mecca.
The memo then states that von Wilpert is “a candidate in the same vein, who will fail to win over Latinos and veterans.”
Von Wilpert, who is bisexual, called the claims in the memo an anti-LGBTQ dog whistle. She noted that the only similarity between her and the three candidates listed is that they are all part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Rollins is an openly gay former prosecutor, Middleton is a transgender woman and former Palm Springs mayor, and Holstege is a bisexual woman and also a former Palm Springs mayor.
“At a time when our rights and freedoms are under attack, the last thing we need in a Democratic primary is divisive rhetoric that questions whether LGBTQ candidates can win or connect with broad communities,” von Wilpert said in a Wednesday press release.
She went on to say, “We don’t win by suggesting some of us are less electable because of who we are. We win by uniting around shared values, lowering costs for working families, and standing up for our freedoms.”
Campa-Najjar’s campaign stood by the memo and denied that it had anything to do with LGBTQ identities.
“These attacks are baseless and desperate. The memo’s analysis was explicitly about electoral geography, with no mention of identity,” campaign manager Andi McNew said in a statement to The Coast News.
On social media, Campa-Najjar’s campaign also noted a recent endorsement from Rep. Robert Garcia, who is openly gay. Campa-Najjar also shared a statement affirming his support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“As a proud Mexican-Palestinian American who has been profiled throughout my life, I have zero tolerance for discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” Campa-Najjar said. “Any of my Democratic colleagues would be an upgrade from Darrell Issa, each of us must make our case. In a district that is heavily Latino and veteran, I believe our campaign is uniquely positioned to achieve this particular mission.”
Rep. Mark Takano, recognized as the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress, also expressed concerns about the memo’s intent. He said the implications echo arguments made by Republicans.
“When I ran for Congress, I heard the same anti-LGBTQ attacks – and I proved them wrong. Our party wins when we build real coalitions rooted in respect and shared values, not when we echo the kind of divisive rhetoric that voters have grown tired of hearing,” Takano said.
Other candidates in the 48th race are Vista City Councilmember Corinna Contreras, U.S. Navy veteran and Palm Springs bartender Marc Iannarino, Nuevo school board member Abel Chavez, Coachella Valley entrepreneur Brandon Riker, Palm Springs business owner Ferguson Porter, and San Diego corporate executive Jerlilia Ryans.
Contreras, who is also openly queer, said voters are more focused on issues that impact their daily lives.
“As the only elected official in this race who is openly LGBTQ and who lives in the district, I know that people are more focused on the real day-to-day struggle of accessing basic resources like healthcare, housing, food, childcare, transportation, and good-paying jobs than they are on identity politics. When we lose sight of that, everybody loses,” said Contreras.
The criticism over Campa-Najjar’s memo came just before a final vote on a critical endorsement by the California Democratic Party. On Feb. 21, the party will finalize 2026 endorsements for Assembly, Senate, and Congressional races during its state endorsement convention in San Francisco ahead of the June 2 primary.
Pre-endorsement voting indicates that von Wilpert is the top choice for an endorsement, receiving 68.83% of the vote. Campa-Najjar received the second-highest amount of votes at 14.29%.
