Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 24, 2023. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP
MINNEAPOLIS – In this year’s rerun of the U.S. House of Representatives primary on Tuesday between incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) candidate Ilhan Omar and her strongest challenger, former city councilman and school board member Don Samuels, the candidates may be the same, but the outcome could be different.
That’s because two years ago, Omar – as her campaign manager admitted – “took her foot off the gas pedal” and expected an easy win in Minneapolis’ 5th District, which includes parts of suburban Anoka County. She almost lost.
AIPAC, the right-wing American Israel Public Affairs Committee and mouthpiece of far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, entered the fray with a $350,000 ad in the final days of the primary campaign. That hurt Omar.
The result of these two factors was that Omar, the first Somali-American representative, narrowly defeated Samuels, 50.3% to 48.2%, and then easily won a third two-year term in the deep-blue district. This year, scant polls show Omar leading Samuels by as much as 25 percentage points.
Omar has taken nothing for granted. Her campaign raised $6.4 million more than Samuels’ — $1.4 million. She outraised him in support at the DFL state convention by a three-to-two margin. The state AFL-CIO endorsed Omar, even though the Steelworkers and Operating Engineers endorsed Samuels.
Campaign finance records show that AIPAC has largely stayed out of the current election campaign, spending only $29,854.
“He’s a great pro-Israel guy and she’s terrible,” a pro-Israel political strategist told the Times of Israel. “But she’s running a real campaign and has been running it for a long time,” said the strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to protect Samuels. “We didn’t see it as a campaign where we could make a difference.”
And Omar has remained true to the demands of workers and unions, sometimes literally.
“Your work is what keeps the city and the state running,” Omar told City Employees Local 363 workers on July 4 as they were about to begin their union’s historic first strike at the Minneapolis Park Board, the Minneapolis Laboratory Review reported.
She also recalled her nervousness in 2007 when her union for office workers, AFSCME Local 3800, was about to strike at the University of Minnesota. “I remember my union brothers telling me we would support each other. Your union brothers would stand up for you, too.”
“They should strike. They should be willing to sign a fair contract.”
Continue the fight
“As chairman of the House Budget Committee and the Progressive Caucus, I have continued to fight for the progressive values that Minnesotans sent me to defend – whether it be codifying Roe v. Wade into law, addressing the opioid crisis or fighting for an assault weapons ban,” she adds.
Still, national progressive groups and politicians took no chances and threw everything they had into helping Omar win against Samuels and AIPAC. Senator Bernie Sanders (Indiana and Vermont) campaigned for her during the weekend before the primaries, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y) endorsed her.
Our Revolution, the organization Sanders’ supporters founded eight years ago after he lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, ran blistering anti-AIPAC ads and solicited money for Omar’s campaign on the eve of the primary – pointing out that AIPAC’s campaign finance committee is funded with MAGA money from big Republican donors.
“And when AIPAC spends its MAGA money, it uses racist, hateful and Islamophobic attacks to attack pro-peace progressives. AIPAC even endorsed over 100 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results,” Our Revolution added.
Her challenger called Ilhan a “Hamas pawn.” This is absolutely disgusting and shows how the right-wing pro-Israel lobby targets anyone who calls for “a ceasefire” in Israel’s murderous war on Gaza.
Samuels calls Omar “divisive” and accuses her of ignoring the constituency. That’s the false characterization that AIPAC successfully used to defeat Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri in the Democratic primaries in deep-blue districts earlier this year.”
“The tone policing towards women, particularly women of color, is a tactic that has been used to attack us. I believe it’s important for me to be decisive, to lead with integrity, to have clarity, to be accountable to my constituents, to be transparent and to be able to communicate with my constituents in a way that I feel is necessary,” Omar said in response to Samuels’ accusations that her “tone” is negative.
There are two other candidates in the race for the 5th District, Sarah Gad and Timothy Petersen, who have attracted little media attention and money.
There are other races for congressional seats, most of them in Republican primaries, as well as the seat of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DFL-Minn., who is seeking re-election. She faces four underfunded challengers in the primaries and is expected to win easily in both August and November. Democrats in Districts 1, 3, 4 and 7 were unopposed in the primaries.
Rep. Angle Craig (DFL-Minn.) faces a challenger in the primary: Marc Ives in the 2nd District, which was drawn as the state’s swing district for the general election. Ives has not yet filed campaign finance reports. A March for Palestine poster is featured on his campaign website.
“I’m a teacher from Minnesota who didn’t want to run for Congress,” he says. “But the thought of doing nothing while thousands of children were being killed in Gaza sickened me. When I saw Angie Craig vote to give Israel $26 billion worth of weapons, I was determined to help her Democratic challenger, whoever it would be. When I saw that no one was standing up to her in the Democratic primary, I knew I had to offer Minnesota voters an alternative.”
In August, there is an unopposed race in both parties for the only open seat in Hennepin County’s 3rd District between Democrat Kelly Morrison and Republican Ted Jude. They are seeking to succeed Democrat Dean Phillips, who ran a failed primary against Joe Biden and ran to the right of the president. Phillips won his last race by a margin of five to four.
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