Ilhan Omar Barely Survives Surprisingly Strong Primary Challenge 

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks as thousands welcome back Congress by marching for Citi
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for CPD Action
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) barely hung on in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district Democrat primary, defeating centrist Don Samuels by approximately 3,000 votes, according to projections.

Omar’s razor-thin victory in Tuesday’s primary highlights the congresswoman’s waning popularity among Democrats.

Although Omar is expected to defeat Samuels by a two-point margin with a roughly 3,000 vote advantage, her performance on Tuesday is nowhere near as strong as during her 2018 and 2020 primary elections.

For example, Omar earned over 14,000 more votes than her Democrat challenger in 2018 and roughly 35,000 more votes than her 2020 primary challenger.

Since her election to Congress in 2018, Omar has been a part of the far-left “Squad” that has advocated for defunding the police and abolishing the United States prison system.

Samuels’ surprising effort against Omar could be attributed to Omar’s support of a failed ballot measure to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety.

Samuels, a former Minneapolis city councilman, told the Star Tribune that Omar’s support of the effort to defund the Minneapolis Police Department pushed him to run against her.

Omar will now face Republican challenger Cicely Davis in the November midterm elections.

Davis, a former director of BLEXIT Minnesota who has the backing of the state’s Republican Party, is confident she can defeat Omar in the general election.

Davis called out Omar for supporting efforts to defund the police in Minneapolis during an interview with a local news outlet.

As the outlet reported:

Davis says she’ll focus on issues most important to constituents in the Fifth District, like inflation, gas prices and baby formula shortages. She says the biggest difference between her and Omar is on the issue of public safety. While Omar advocated for defunding police, Davis says constituents she talks to want more police.

“They want to feel safe. To walk with their dogs. To stand with their kids at the bus stop and so this is the area that distinguishes myself from my opponent,” Davis said. “We need police presence. We need to feel safe in our streets. We need CD 5 to be a safe place to visit, a safe place to work.”

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter. 

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