MINNEAPOLIS – Rep. Ilhan Omar had a prominent Democratic primary challenger on Sunday when former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels announced he will try once again to unseat her after coming close in 2022.
Omar, a founding member of the “team” of progressive House Democrats, twice won re-election despite making comments during her first term that were widely criticized for invoking anti-Semitic tropes and suggesting that American Jews have divided loyalties.
But Omar, a Somali American and Muslim, has come under renewed attack for condemning the Israeli government’s handling of its war against Hamas.
“Our congresswoman has a penchant for division and conflict,” Samuels said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of her official announcement Sunday morning on WCCO Radio.
Jamaica-born Samuels still maintains that his narrow loss in the 2022 primary showed that Omar was beatable and could have won if they had competed later in the general election, where Omar won 74% of the vote over a slightly Republican. acquaintance.
The big issue in 2022 was the future of policing in the city where George Floyd was killed in 2020 by a former Minneapolis police officer, sparking protests around the world and riots in Minnesota.
Omar was among progressives who criticized former President Barack Obama for criticizing the “defund the police” movement as simply a “snappy slogan.”
Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels announced he will run against Rep. Ilhan Omar in the Democratic primary. AP Photo/Steve Karnowski
“Is It’s not a slogan but a political demand,” he posted on Twitter, now known as X.
By contrast, the centrist Samuels helped lead the opposition that defeated a proposal in the 2021 municipal election that emerged from the “defund” movement and would have replaced the police force with a revamped public safety agency. Samuels believes safety will once again be an important issue.
“The long lines of the George Floyd and COVID problems continue, with storefronts and shopping centers empty because people no longer want to invest. They don’t think it’s safe,” Samuels said.
Omar issued a written statement Sunday touting her work in Congress and for her district, including fighting to combat climate change and codifying abortion rights.
Omar has been criticized for her criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File
He also highlighted his involvement in securing affordable housing for veterans in Minnesota and a public safety measure that provides support and mental health services to victims of gun violence.
“Right-wing donors have attacked me since I first entered public life,” Omar said in the statement, which also accused Samuels of accepting hundreds of thousands in contributions from far-right donors and political action committees. “If we want to stop Donald Trump, we need record turnout, and I am confident in our ability to drive turnout, particularly in a presidential election year.”
The war in the Middle East has already divided Democrats and upset the dynamics of some House primaries. Omar has criticized Hamas for attacking Israel and taking hostages, but even more so for Israel’s military response. His attention has been focused on the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
she also has condemned the increase of intimidation and violence against Muslim and Jewish targets in the US.
Samuels stated that Omar has a “predilection for division and conflict.” AP Photo/Steve Karnowski
It remains to be seen how potent the war will be in an overwhelmingly Democratic district that includes Minneapolis and some suburbs. The district also has a large Somali Muslim population.
And it includes St. Louis Park, which has historically been a center of Jewish life in Minnesota.
Samuels said he believes the war will be a big concern.
He criticized Omar for voting against imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine but supporting sanctions against Israel, and for boycotting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to Congress in July.
“She has scared the Jewish community,” Samuels said, adding that the community “understands that there is a latent, lurking anti-Semitic sentiment that always needs to be discouraged, and always in times of national crisis rears its ugly head.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has been actively trying to recruit a credible rival to Omar. That drew pushback from a strong Israel supporter, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who made a public show of support for Omar this summer.
A super PAC affiliated with AIPAC spent about $350,000 against Omar in 2022. But Samuels said AIPAC did not try to recruit him.
Omar’s fellow House Democrats have portrayed her as a serious lawmaker who over the past four years has earned admiration for giving voice to marginalized groups often forgotten on Capitol Hill.
But Samuels said people sometimes “confuse his oppositional and divisive nature as someone who is speaking truth to power when in reality he is misusing his power, or not using his power, to effect change.”
The other declared candidates are relatively unknown. One Democrat is Sarah Gad, a Minneapolis lawyer and daughter of Egyptian immigrants who is Muslim.
The other is military veteran Tim Peterson. The only Republican currently running is Dalia Al-Aqidi, an Iraqi-American journalist and self-described secular Muslim who calls Omar pro-Hamas and a terrorist sympathizer.
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