Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was left stunned last night after narrowly surviving a primary challenge from a pro-police candidate.
The narrow win is seen as a warning from Minnesota voters and a bad sign for her future in Congress.
Omar barely won the Democratic primary for Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District against challenger Don Samuels.
In her own district, incumbent Omar only received 50.5% of the vote while Samuels won 48% of the vote.
And only a few thousand votes separated the two.
Samuels almost pulled off the unseating by running against Omar’s radical policies, proving that she is out of touch in her district while pushing a “woke” agenda in Washington D.C.
Omar released a statement that said: “Six years ago, when I ran and defeated a 44-year incumbent, nobody thought it was possible that a Muslim, immigrant, refugee, black, hijabi woman could get elected.
“I’m now honored to be on the path to serve the people of the 5th Congressional District for a 3rd term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Millions of dollars have been spent to unseat us.
“Republicans and conservative Democrats have worked in lockstep to vote us out.
“Corporations and special interest groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads against us.
“Pundits and news agencies have tried to smear us and undermine our work,” she said.
“Tonight’s victory is a testament to how much our district believes in the collective values we are fighting for and how much they’re willing to do to help us overcome defeat.
“This win is for them and everyone who still believes that hate, division and regression will not be the legacy of the Fifth.”
According to CNN:
“Samuels had run as a pro-police critic of Omar’s calls to ‘defund the police.’
“He and his wife successfully sued the city of Minneapolis to force it to increase police staffing levels to the 741 officers required by the city’s charter.
“Momentum built behind what had been widely seen as a long-shot challenge after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey endorsed Samuels last week.
“He was also backed by building trades unions, several suburban mayors, and more moderate DFL leaders.
“His close call could inspire another effort to oust Omar in 2024.
“Democrats currently control four out of the state’s eight US House seats to three for the Republicans and one vacancy.”
Samuels, a Black former Minneapolis councilman who has pushed for stronger police funding, picked up late momentum w/ an endorsement from Mayor Jacob Frey last week & support from more moderate DFL suburban mayors. #MN05
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 10, 2022
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a progressive member of Congress, has won her Democratic primary in Minnesota. Omar, a supporter of the “defund the police” movement, beat a former Minneapolis City Council member who made rising crime an issue in the race. https://t.co/a4PoXD49Zj
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 10, 2022
BREAKING: Ilhan Omar survives #MN05 primary, challenger Don Samuels concedes.
Omar will win by ~3,000 votes, far less than the 35,000 she won by in the 2020 primary. https://t.co/cpzgQ7KJf6
— Theo Keith (@TheoKeith) August 10, 2022
