Minneapolis, Minnesota — Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, one of the progressive House members known as the “Squad” and a sharp critic of how Israel has conducted the war in Gaza, is trying to avoid the fate of two of her closest allies when Minnesota holds its primary elections Tuesday.
Omar is defending her Minneapolis-area 5th District seat against a repeat challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, a more centrist liberal whom she only narrowly defeated in the 2022 primary.
In the main statewide race on the ballot, conservative populist and former NBA player Royce White is facing a more conventional Republican candidate, Navy veteran Joe Fraser, for the right to challenge Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Meanwhile, two newcomers are in a bitter fight for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Representative Angie Craig in November in the mostly suburban 2nd District.
Omar’s fellow Squad member Representative Cori Bush lost the Democratic nomination in Missouri last week. Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York lost his primary in June. The only charter member not facing a primary challenge is Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
Both Bush and Bowman faced well-funded challengers and millions of dollars in spending by the United Democracy Project, a super political action committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which appears to be sitting out the Minnesota race.
But Omar isn’t taking victory for granted. Omar reported spending $2.3 million before the 2022 primary. In the same period this year, she reported raising about $6.2 million. Samuels has raised about $1.4 million.
Omar — a Somali American and Muslim — came under fire from the Jamaican-born Samuels and others in her first term for comments that were widely criticized for invoking antisemitic tropes and suggesting Jewish Americans have divided loyalties. This time, Samuels has criticized her condemnation of the Israeli government’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
While Omar has also criticized Hamas for attacking Israel and taking hostages, Samuels says she’s one-sided and divisive.
The winner in the overwhelmingly Democratic district will face Republican Dalia Al-Aqidi, an Iraqi American journalist and self-described secular Muslim who calls Omar pro-Hamas and a terrorist sympathizer.
In the U.S. Senate race, White — an ally of imprisoned former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — shocked many political observers when he defeated Fraser at the party convention for the Republican endorsement.
White’s social media comments have been denounced as misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic and profane. His legal and financial problems include unpaid child support and questionable campaign spending, including $1,200 spent at a Florida strip club after he lost his primary challenge to Omar in 2022. He argues that, as a Black man, he can broaden the party’s base by appealing to voters of color in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and others disillusioned with establishment politics.
Fraser has said White’s confrontational style and message won’t attract the moderates and independents needed for a competitive challenge to Klobuchar, who’s seeking a fourth term. He said he offers a more mainstream approach, stressing fiscal conservativism, a strong defense, world leadership and small government. Fraser has also highlighted his 26 years in the Navy, where he was an intelligence officer and served a combat tour in Iraq.
Neither has anywhere near the resources that Klobuchar has. White last reported raising $133,000, while Fraser has taken in $68,000. Klobuchar, meanwhile, has collected about $19 million this cycle and has more than $6 million available to spend on the general election campaign.
Craig is preparing for what’s expected to be Minnesota’s most competitive House race in November. Vying to challenge her are former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab and defense attorney Tayler Rahm. Teirab has the support of Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and the National Republican Congressional Committee. He was better funded than Rahm, who won the endorsement at the district convention with support from grassroots conservatives.
While Rahm announced in July that he was suspending his campaign and would instead serve as a senior adviser for Trump’s Minnesota campaign, he will still be on the ballot and didn’t fully pull the plug on his campaign.
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