Ilhan Omar seeks to avoid same fate as fellow Squad members in primary race

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a progressive member of the House and part of “The Squad”, will try to avoid a similar fate met by two close allies in her primary election on Tuesday.

Omar, who has represented Minnesota’s 5th congressional district since 2018, is facing off, again, against Don Samuels – a Minneapolis City Council member who Omar narrowly defeated two years ago.

All eyes will be on Tuesday’s primary to see how Omar fares against Samuels given two other members of “The Squad” – the group of progressive left-wing young representatives in the House – have faced defeats in their districts.

Last week, Missouri Rep Cori Bush lost her primary to a local prosecutor in an expensive and contentious race. New York RepJamaal Bowman also lost his seat in the most expensive House primary in history thanks to an onslaught of funding to his challenger.

Both losses were, in part, attributed to Bush and Bowman’s support of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict – something Omar has been an outspoken advocate of. 

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee super PAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, poured more than $14 million into Bowman’s primary, successfully unseating him. That same group spent more than $9 million in Bush’s primary.

But the super PAC chose not to involve itself in Omar’s primary, a spokesperson for the grouptold The Hill. 

This has given Omar’s supporters a confidence boost that she can maintain her seat.

“Despite last-ditch efforts by right-wing interests and Trump donors to boost her opponent, the people of MN-05 know Ilhan Omar is the representation they deserve to have in Congress,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, an organization supporting Omar, told The Hill.