California Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar’s campaign is facing criticism for a memo suggesting that an LGBTQ+ candidate can’t win in a newly drawn Congressional district.

As The Advocate reports, Campa-Najjar’s campaign recently circulated a seven-page document that included a section on Palm Springs. The community, long considered both an LGBTQ+ mecca and a reliable Democratic stronghold, was recently added to California’s 48th Congressional District as part of the state’s redistricting efforts to offset those benefiting Republicans in Texas and other states.

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Campa-Najjar is running against 11 other Democrats — including out bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert — and one independent candidate to unseat incumbent Republican Darrell Issa, who has represented California’s 48th since 2023. The state’s redrawn Congressional map — which was approved by voters by nearly 20 points in a special election last November and upheld by a district court the same month — changes the district from a 12-point Republican advantage to a 4-point Democratic advantage, according to Cal Matters.

In the memo, Campa-Najjar’s campaign described Palm Springs as “a critical constituency made up of reliable Democratic voters,” according to The Advocate. However, he singles out von Wilpert, comparing her to three previous LGBTQ+ candidates.

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“Neither Will Rollins, Christy Holstege, nor Lisa Middleton won their elections to higher office due to their inability to reach voters beyond Palm Springs,” the document reads, according to The Advocate. “Marni von Wilpert, as her record will show, is a candidate in the same vein, who will fail to win over Latinos and veterans, who are the true swing voters in this district.”

Ryan Darsey, president of San Diego Democrats for Equality, told the outlet that the memo’s message “is not subtle.”

“The only common thread among those candidates is that they are all LGBTQ,” Darsey said, adding that if Democrats treat LGBTQ+ candidates as a liability, “we haven’t learned anything.”

Wilpert described the memo’s implication that out LGBTQ+ candidates could not succeed as “heartbreaking,” and said that it sends “a signal to a group of people that is offensive and homophobic.”

“The last thing we need in a Democratic primary is this kind of divisive rhetoric that questions whether LGBTQ+ candidates are worthy and can win or connect with broad communities,” she told The Advocate. Voters, she said, are “sick and tired of seeing divisive, hateful rhetoric like this.”

She also noted that Campa-Najjar has lost all three of his previous bids for public office, including when he went up against Issa in the 2020 race to represent U.S. House District 50.

Out Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) and former Palm Springs mayor Middleton similarly criticized the memo in statements included in a press release from the von Wilpert campaign.

“When I ran for Congress, I heard the same anti-LGBTQ attacks — and I proved them wrong,” Takano said, according to The Advocate. “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. Democrats won’t defeat Republicans by sounding like them.”

“This is the time for unifying the Democratic Party and our country,” Middleton said. “You cannot unify our party or our country by disqualifying any American from candidacy for public office.”

Last week, Campa-Najjar received an endorsement from out Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). Neither Campa-Najjar nor Garcia has commented on The Advocate’s reporting on the memo.

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