NW Valley Times

In an election year, it’s common to see standard political signs with candidates’ names go up on street corners, in yards, and on the side of the road.

Some unique signs, however, featuring a local Republican candidate in a “toga” are sprouting up across the 8th Congressional District.

“America was founded on Islamic principles,” says the signs, with a picture of congressional candidate Abe Hamadeh wearing a white toga. 

The sign lists a website, DishonestAbe.com, and is paid for by the congressional campaign of Blake Masters, who will face Hamadeh in the July 30 Republican Primary.

“We’ve put up about a hundred signs,” Dylan Leffler, manager of the Masters’ campaign, told NW Valley Times. “The purpose of them - those are Abe Hamadeh’s own words.”

“So making sure that people know exactly what he’s said, and what he’s stated in the past, is very important,” said Leffler. “Our goal is to make sure that the voters in Arizona’s 8th congressional district know the truth about Abe.”

In a response to NW Valley Times, the Hamadeh campaign did not address the content of the signs, but said in a statement that "Masters is a desperate, power-hungry coward attempting to divide MAGA to appease his Silicon Valley puppet masters.”

The “Dishonest Abe” website was created as part of an ad campaign launched by the Masters campaign in April, reported the NW Valley Times.

Like the signs, the ad, which ran on TV, radio, and social media within the 8th Congressional District, said that Hamadeh “said America was founded on Islamic principles” and “said Israel was behind 9/11.”

Masters and Hamadeh are two of six candidates currently running in the Republican primary to represent the 8th Congressional District. The district is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R), who announced last year that she will be retiring at the end of the current term.

The district includes the western suburbs of Phoenix. The district covers the majority of Peoria and Glendale, as well as Sun City, Sun City West, El Mirage, and Youngtown. Portions of Surprise, New River, and Anthem are also included within the district.