It was a closer match than she had hoped, but progressive Congressman Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, narrowly defeated centrist Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels in Tuesday night’s main matchup, giving the Minneapolis District She won by a margin indicating that her position in .
Samuels has largely met with backlash against Omar’s leftist stance, including her support for defunding the police, a hot issue in Minneapolis since the 2020 murder of George Floyd. I was. A caucus, she occasionally opposed the party in major policy votes, alongside the rest of the so-called progressive “squad.”
Although he ultimately lost, Samuels’ candidacy seemed to resonate with some voters’ dislike of Omar’s progressive approach. I was only leading.
Ilhan Omar breaks down ‘high school’ faction in Congress
Leading up to the primary, Omar was seemingly unperturbed. Not only did she benefit from her incumbent, she was endorsed by many prominent progressives, including Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) .
Samuels benefited from last-minute support, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. However, his attempt was ultimately unsuccessful. gave up the race Heading to Omar on a Tuesday night around 10:30pm EDT.
Omar isn’t the first member of the team to survive a close primary challenge this year. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Rashida Tribe (D-Michigan) both faced major centrist challengers, but both won by more comfortable margins.
Omar has faced major challenges over the past few years, including attorney Antone Melton Moe. But her close call Tuesday night could indicate that another Democratic challenger could beat her in another primary.
Luckily for Omar, her constituency is heavily Democratic, so she has little chance of escaping re-election in this November’s general election, so it will take another two years to resolve the issue of electability. It means that the possibility is high.
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