House Representative Ilhan Omar has won a close Democratic Primary in Minnesota for a fourth term, escaping the fate of other members of her political “Squad.”
Omar successfully fended off competing moderate Democrat former Minnesota City Council Member Don Samuels on August 13, by winning 56.2 percent of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Her opponent, Samuels, won just 42.9 percent of the vote. He also narrowly lost to Omar in 2022.
The U.S. Primaries are a series of elections held throughout the year of the general election where political candidates are voted to appear on the November ballot. It is a continually evolving process that has been done throughout America’s history.
The victory makes Omar the likely winner of the general election on November 5 as Minnesota’s 5th District is among the most Democratic-leaning districts in the country, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D+30. The Republican primary in the district was uncontested, with former journalist Dalia Al-Aqidi being the unopposed GOP candidate running in November.
Omar’s robust campaign fundraising likely played a significant role in her victory, having collected $6.8 million since the 2022 election, more than double the typical House member’s reelection campaign and well over Samuels’ $1.4 million, according to federal campaign disclosures.
Omar is the first Somali-American and hijab-wearing lawmaker, elected to Congress and one of the original members of the “Squad”—a political group of progressively left-leaning minority Democrats in congress, that at one point had nine members—other well-known members are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib.
Two of her “Squad” colleagues, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), lost to more moderate Democrats, in recent months which could be seen as a shift in the Democratic party overall to a more moderate center, backing away from its furthest left causes like defunding the police and a reflection of the nation’s views on Israel’s war in Gaza.
Bowman, Bush and Omar had all expressed opposition to President Joe Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Bowman and Bush’s opponents were funded by pro-Israel fundraising group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and took a more supportive view of Israel’s cause against Hamas. Samuels is also in support of Israel defending themselves against Hamas.
The pair were elected in 2020 amid the Racial Justice riots after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer. Omar has been the most critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide.”
She has faced criticism for antisemitic remarks, with House Republicans in 2023 voting to remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee over a 2019 social media post suggesting that Israel’s supporters were motivated by money rather than principle. Omar has since apologized for that post.
Other primary races on Aug. 13 took place in Connecticut, Wisconsin, Vermont, and Minnesota—where Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar also won her primary nomination.
