Zuhdi Jasser, a Republican physician, former U.S. Navy officer and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, faces Democratic incumbent Greg Stanton for Arizona's 4th congressional district in 2026.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
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- Born
- November 17, 1967
- Birthplace
- Canton, Ohio
- Education
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Bachelor of Science, 1988)
Medical College of Wisconsin (MD, 1992)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Zuhdi Jasser, born Mohamed Zuhdi Jasser on November 17, 1967, in Canton, Ohio, is the son of Syrians who immigrated to the United States in the 1960s; his father, Mohamed Kais Jasser, is a cardiologist, and his mother is a pharmacist.
He was raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, until the age of six and then in Neenah, Wisconsin, in the Sunni branch of Islam.
Jasser earned a bachelor of science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1988 and an M.D. from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1992, attending medical school on a U.S. Navy scholarship.
Career
Jasser served in the Navy for 11 years, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander and receiving the Meritorious Service Medal before his honorable discharge in 1999.
His tours of duty included staff internist for the U.S. Congress, medical department head aboard the USS El Paso and chief resident at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He then moved to Arizona, took over part of his father's medical practice, and practices internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix.
He has served on the Maricopa County board of health since 2005.
In 2003 Jasser and a group of American Muslims founded the American Islamic Forum for Democracy in Phoenix, which he leads as president, and in 2004 he was one of the founders of the Center for Islamic Pluralism.
He testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security in March 2011, and in March 2012 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appointed him to a two-year term on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
In 2024 he ran for the 4th district as a Republican and lost the primary to Kelly Cooper. Jasser lives in Scottsdale with his wife and three children.
2026 race
Arizona's 4th district encompasses much of Tempe, Mesa and Chandler, and its incumbent is Democrat Greg Stanton, who was reelected with 52.7% of the vote in 2024.
In the 2026 Republican primary, after pastor and former Las Vegas Raiders running back Jerone Davison was disqualified and Air Force veteran Bradley Honer withdrew, Jasser won the nomination with 39,431 votes.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Stanton, who defeated progressive organizer Kai Newkirk in the Democratic primary with 62.3% of the vote.