Cactus Politics sat down with former U.S. Army Captain Abe Hamadeh, who is running for Arizona's 8th Congressional District to replace Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). Hamadeh Cactus Politics about his motivation to run for Congress after losing the election for Attorney General in the 2022 midterms, saying, "This is not an election of policy, this is an election of courage" and his intent to aid Donald Trump in securing the border.
Hamadeh described returning from his deployment to Saudi Arabia in 2021 when he realized, "I no longer recognize this country, and it has only gotten worse."
"I know who the phonies are, who the crooks are. Our country is being stolen from us, quite frankly, whether it is our academic institutions. Whether it is immigration again and our elections, obviously. So we have to look at it. What is happening, really, [is] Marxism has infiltrated every aspect of our life," said Hamadeh.
Does Texas have a constitutional right to defy Supreme Court on protecting its border?
Additionally, Hamadeh said former President Donald Trump endorsed him for Congress because "this is not an election of policy, this is an election of courage."
The focus changed to securing the border, which Hamadeh said he was "looking forward" to solving, calling the ongoing crisis "an invasion" and referencing the "Dinnertime Bandits," who have been responsible for a string of burglaries in Scottsdale.
"It does not require much. It requires us to actually enforce the laws that are on the books. But something I want to expand upon is designating the cartels as a terrorist organization. I ran for AG on that platform, designating them at a state-level territory. We can certainly do that at the federal level as well," Hamadeh continued.
Additionally, Hamadeh spoke of "going after sanctuary cities" since "the idea that a city can override federal law to allow illegal immigrants is unacceptable." Moreover, he did not expect resistance from Democrats, as Mayor Eric Adams of New York City and Brandon Johnson of Chicago are "starting to backtrack on sanctuary cities."
Finally, Hamadeh warned America's adversaries are taking advantage of the border crisis, as Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) have warned.
"I am a military guy. You have to think like the enemy. If I were the enemy, I would be exploiting the hell out of the southern border, and that is exactly what they are doing," Hamadeh concluded.
With the endorsements of President Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake under his belt, Hamadeh is in a strong position to win the Republican primary for Arizona's 8th District, as a recent poll suggested.
According to a recent National Public Affairs survey, Hamadeh leads the field of Republican congressional candidates with 37% of the vote of those polled. Blake Masters follows with 14%, then former Congressman Trent Franks with 6%, House Speaker Ben Toma at 7%, and Anthony Kern at 3%.
There are also 34% of those surveyed that are considered "undecided."
