U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar Wins Minnesota Democratic Primary

MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has won the Minnesota primary.

Omar is one of the progressive members of the House of Representatives known as “The Squad,” who successfully defended her seat in Minneapolis’ 5th District against a second challenge from former City Council member Don Samuels in Tuesday’s primary.

She narrowly defeated a more centrist liberal in the 2022 primary. Omar is a harsh critic of the Israeli government’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas. She avoided the fate of two Squad members who lost primaries to candidates backed by pro-Israel groups.

Meanwhile, former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab won the contested Republican primary for Minnesota’s 2nd District seat held by Democratic congresswoman Angie Craig.

Teirab is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican National Congressional Committee.

His opponent, defense attorney Tayler Rahm, won an endorsement at the district convention with the support of local conservatives.

Although Rahm announced in July that he was suspending his campaign and would instead become a senior adviser to the Trump campaign in Minnesota, he remained on the candidate list.

Teirab will face Craig in what is expected to be the tightest House race in Minnesota history in November.

Craig issued a statement after Teirab’s victory, calling him “a guy who recently moved to the district because he saw a political opportunity.”

“This is a guy who spent months doing everything he could to win the support of Washington Republicans,” Craig said. “And this is a guy who has made it his life’s mission to take away reproductive freedom from families and put those decisions in the hands of politicians.”

Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of the progressive members of the House of Representatives known as “The Squad” and a sharp critic of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, is trying to avoid the fate of two of her closest allies in Minnesota’s primary on Tuesday.

Omar is defending her seat in the Minneapolis-area 5th Congressional District against a second challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, a more centrist liberal whom she narrowly defeated in the 2022 primary.

In the state’s primary race on the ballot, conservative populist and former NBA player Royce White will face a more conventional GOP candidate, Navy veteran Joe Fraser, for the right to challenge Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Omar’s Squad mate, Rep. Cori Bush, lost the Democratic nomination in Missouri last week. Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York lost his primary in June. The only charter member who did not face a primary challenge is Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

Both Bush and Bowman faced well-funded rivals and millions of dollars in spending from the United Democracy Project, a political action super committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that is apparently not in the Minnesota nomination race.

But Omar isn’t taking victory for granted. Omar reported spending $2.3 million ahead of the 2022 primary. During the same period this year, she reported raising about $6.2 million. Samuels raised about $1.4 million.

Omar — a Somali American and Muslim — has come under fire from Jamaican-born Samuels and others in her first term for comments that have been widely criticized for drawing on anti-Semitic tropes and suggesting that Jewish Americans have divided loyalties. This time, Samuels has criticized her condemnation of the Israeli government’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas.

While Omar has also criticized Hamas for attacking Israel and taking hostages, Samuels says her criticism is one-sided and divisive. He has also emphasized public safety issues, which he has focused on in 2022. The biggest issue at the time was police work in Minneapolis, where a former officer killed George Floyd in 2020.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. in Minnesota, but the results of the Omar-Samuels race were not expected to be announced for some time. Hennepin County, which includes all of Minneapolis and all but a few communities in its district, did not report results from its March presidential primary until 9:40 p.m., by which time the county had reported almost all of its votes.

County officials said they expect a similar schedule for Tuesday’s primary because of a rule change this year that allows ballots to be dropped off until 8 p.m., which resulted in a later announcement of results.

The winner in the majority-Democratic district will face Republican Dalia Al-Aqidi, an Iraqi American journalist and self-identified secular Muslim who views Omar as a Hamas supporter and terrorist sympathizer.

In the race for the U.S. Senate, White — an ally of imprisoned former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — shocked many political observers when he defeated Fraser at the party convention and won the Republican Party endorsement.

White’s social media comments have been condemned as misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Semitic and profane. His legal and financial troubles include unpaid child support and questionable campaign spending, including $1,200 spent at a Florida strip club after his 2022 primary loss to Omar. He argues that as a black man, he can broaden the party’s voter base by appealing to voters of color in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and others disillusioned with establishment politics.

Fraser said White’s confrontational style and message would not attract the moderates and independents needed to compete with Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth term. He said he offers a more mainstream approach, emphasizing fiscal conservatism, a strong defense, global leadership and small government. Fraser also highlighted his 26 years in the Navy, where he was an intelligence officer and served a combat tour in Iraq.

Neither has nearly the resources Klobuchar has. White last reported raising $133,000, while Fraser raised $68,000. Klobuchar, meanwhile, has raised about $19 million this cycle and has more than $6 million available to spend on her campaign. She has faced only nominal opposition in the primary.

Another showdown between establishment and grassroots Republicans is playing out in western Minnesota’s 7th District. GOP Rep. Michelle Fischbach is considered one of the most conservative members of Congress and has Trump’s backing. But small-time businessman Steve Boyd, who ran to her right on a religious platform, blocked her from getting an endorsement at the district convention. Boyd reported spending $170,000, while Fischbach spent more than $1 million.

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The article was corrected: Angie Craig represents the 2nd District, not the 1st District.

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