The Republican National Committee (RNC) has JoAnna Mendoza, the Democratic challenger to Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) in the upcoming midterms, in its sights again.
This time, the RNC is demanding answers into Mendoza's 16-day marriage to a Syrian national.
The Context
Mendoza's campaign website describes her as a "single mom by choice" who is currently unmarried, with alleged implications that she has never married.
However, an investigation by the Daily Mail uncovered that Mendoza, shortly after she left the Navy and before she joined the Marine Corps, was briefly married to a Syrian man named Tariq Alrawwass in his home country for 16 days in April 1998. For unknown reasons, Alrawwass did not return with Mendoza to the United States the following May.
Mendoza did not file for divorce until October 2000, and finding Alrawwass proved difficult; Mendoza's only means of contacting him were through her own father and a relative of Alrawwass living in the United States.
Alrawwass has been silent ever since, and Mendoza allegedly refuses to speak.
RNC Demands Answers
RNC spokesman Nick Poche said in a statement, "The more we know about Mendoza, the more it's clear that her moderate image is a mirage. She's a weirdo with a strange past, and Arizonans are going to see through her normal person facade."
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Ben Petersen added, "What exactly is Democrat lobbyist Joanna Mendoza hiding? Amidst the national conversation about Democrats’ failures to vet their candidates enters Mendoza’s secret marriage to a mysterious Syrian national, raising serious questions about her transparency."
A Recap of Previous Targeting
The RNC's attacks on Mendoza began in March, when footage of her seemingly speaking in favor of defunding police in a 2020 interview surfaced.
April saw Mendoza refusing to speak about her affiliations with the Future Forum PAC, a political action committee founded by disgraced former Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
Then in June, another piece of 2020 interview footage found Mendoza speaking in favor of decriminalizing prostitution for transgendered individuals.
