A top Democrat House recruit hid a brief, 16-day marriage to a Syrian national from nearly 30 years ago, a revelation a critic is now calling “fishy and weird.”

Public records obtained by the Daily Mail show that JoAnna Mendoza, an openly bisexual Marine veteran running in Arizona’s toss-up 6th Congressional District, married Tariq Alrawwass in Syria on April 20, 1998. The marriage lasted 16 days before Mendoza returned to the United States alone.

The revelation prompted critics to demand answers from the first-time candidate.

“This situation is fishy and weird,” said Lydia Hall, a spokeswoman for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC backed by House GOP leadership. “JoAnna Mendoza owes Arizonans a full explanation.”

According to court filings, Mendoza didn’t file for divorce until October 2000, more than two years after the split, noting that she struggled to locate Alrawwass. A judge granted a default divorce in June 2001.

Records show Alrawwass never lived in the United States, and Mendoza’s Navy records indicate she never deployed overseas during her 1994–1997 enlistment, leaving it unclear how the two met.

Mendoza leaned her campaign heavily on her raw, self-made story. To connect with voters, she openly talked about growing up in rural poverty, her sobriety, and her life as a bisexual single mother raising a ten-year-old son. Her strategy helped her build a national profile and win the financial backing of major progressive and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. Before jumping into this race, she ran a consulting firm dedicated to helping progressive women, transwomen, and nonbinary candidates find their own footing in public leadership.

Mendoza’s campaign dismissed the story as a political distraction.

“JoAnna’s brief marriage at age 21 is one short chapter amid her decades of service,” campaign spokesperson Kyle McCarthy said. “It ended nearly 30 years ago, and she has since built a career dedicated to service, responsibility, and helping others.”

Mendoza is currently neck-and-neck with incumbent Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, whom she recently out-raised.