Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, a prominent member of the progressive “Squad” and a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, has secured her primary win in Minnesota.
Omar, 41, successfully retained her seat in the 5th district, which encompasses the Minneapolis area, defeating former city council member Don Samuels, who challenged her once again.
In her address to supporters in Minneapolis, Omar reiterated themes from Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, stating, “We run the politics of joy. Because we know it is joyful to fight for your neighbors… to make sure housing is a human right… to want to live in a peaceful and equitable world.”
As reported with results from 216 of 217 precincts, Omar received 56.2 percent of the vote, compared to Samuels’s 42.9 percent, according to tallies from the Minnesota Secretary of State.
Samuels had been critical of Omar’s approach to the Israeli government’s actions in the Gaza conflict. While Omar has also condemned Hamas for its attacks on Israel, Samuels accused her of being one-sided and divisive. He highlighted public safety concerns in Minneapolis, particularly in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a former police officer in 2020. Following his loss, Samuels expressed disappointment, stating, “I was hoping a strong ground game would offset an overwhelming superiority in dollars. Clearly, money matters a little more in politics than I had hoped.”
In a social media post, Omar expressed her gratitude for the community’s support, saying, “I am honored that my community voted to send me back to Congress. Tonight’s victory shows that the Fifth District believes in the collective values we are fighting for in Washington.”
The “Squad” saw a reduction in its numbers recently, as fellow members Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri lost their primary contests against candidates favored by AIPAC, a pro-Israel fundraising group. Despite their shared opposition to President Biden’s support for Israel, AIPAC had contributed only $25 to Samuels’s campaign by mid-July.
Originally consisting of nine members, the “Squad” has faced challenges due to the Democratic Party’s retreat from some progressive agendas, such as universal healthcare and calls to defund the police, which gained traction during the primaries for Biden’s 2020 presidential nomination.
Omar, a former refugee from Somalia, describes her political approach as “visionary, bold and loud,” claiming to have secured millions in federal funds for community development in her district. She emphasizes her commitment to the area’s large immigrant population, including Somali individuals, and has scrutinized whether large banks engage in discriminatory practices against Muslim citizens.
Omar has also faced backlash for comments she made in 2019 that were labeled anti-Semitic, leading to a 2023 House vote by Republicans to remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee, after she suggested in a social media post that supporters of Israel were motivated by financial interests rather than principles. Omar has since apologized for that post.
Samuels, who hails from Jamaica and has a background in toy development and nonprofit leadership, portrayed himself as a pragmatic alternative, arguing that while he shares many of Omar’s policy views, he disagrees with her sometimes divisive approach to governance.