Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting efforts in California could give a boost to a Democratic congressional candidate whose grandfather helped orchestrate the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.

Ammar Campa-Najjar recently joined the race to unseat an 11-term Republican incumbent, Darrell Issa, in California’s 48th District. That’s one of the key districts the state’s Democrats are hoping to flip through Proposition 50.

The measure, which will be voted on this November, would allow California to temporarily override its independent redistricting commission and replace its congressional maps with ones drawn by Democrats. Under the proposition, California’s 48th District would adopt new boundaries that would give Democrats a 3 percentage-point advantage over Republicans, according to Ballotpedia.

The redistricting effort has created an opening for Democrats to have a shot at unseating Mr. Issa in November 2026, and many have jumped at the opportunity. New candidates include a San Diego city council member, Marni von Wilpert, a former San Diego city attorney, Mara Elliott, a San Diego Unified school board trustee, Sabrina Bazzo, and an East County water official, Suzanne Till, among others.

Mr. Campa-Najjar announced his campaign in late August, positioning himself for a third attempt at Congress after unsuccessful campaigns in 2018 and 2020. The 36-year-old U.S. Navy Reserve officer was born and raised at San Diego County to a Palestinian father and a Mexican-American mother and got his start in politics working for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

Mr. Campa-Najjar’s candidacy is contentious given his family connection to the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. His paternal grandfather, Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar, was a high-level Palestinian intelligence official who helped organize the attack, in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by members of the Black September terrorist group. Al-Najjar was assassinated in April 1973 during a retaliatory Israeli commando raid at Beirut, Lebanon. 

Mr. Campa-Najjar was born 16 years after his grandfather’s death and has stated he never met him. The Democratic candidate has consistently denounced his grandfather’s actions and called for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier this month he celebrated the Jewish New Year by stating: “Release the hostages immediately, ceasefire now, humanitarian aid — so our Palestinian and Israeli children can one day live alongside each other in peace, security and prosperity.” 

Although Mr. Campa-Najjar has distanced himself from his grandfather’s actions, his heritage became a central issue during his 2018 campaign against Congressman Duncan Hunter in California’s 50th District. Mr. Hunter released attack ads accusing Mr. Campa-Najjar of being a “national security risk” and attempting to “infiltrate Congress.” Mr. Hunter won that race with 54 percent of the vote. 

Two years later, Mr. Campa-Najjar lost against Mr. Issa in California’s 48th District by a similar margin. In 2022, he ran for mayor in Chula Vista but lost to Republican John McCann.

The redistricting measure would add to the 48th District the cities of San Marcos and Escondido — two purple battleground areas where Mr. Campa-Najjar previously carried votes. Mr. Issa’s spokesman, Jonathan Wilcox, called the Democratic redistricting effort a “trashing of the state constitution that seeks to disenfranchise millions of voters.”

Mr. Issa, on the other hand, recently told NOTUS: “I’ve been here, I’ve had a long career. I continue to serve because the voters of my district want me to. But I’m not clinging to this job. I can do other things and it won’t bother me.”