OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Controversial Democratic incumbent Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s 5th congressional district is up for re-election this year, but she will have her work cut out for her in the primary against not one but three formidable opponents.
Campaigning as a progressive who can work with President Joe Biden, Omar’s Democratic primary opponent is currently tied with the progressive squad member in a rematch race, according to the most recent poll.
After trailing Omar by just 2.1 percent in the 2022 primary, former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels is taking on Omar once more in the August 13 primary — and it’s shaping up to be a nail-biter.
It happens at the same time that Omar and other alleged members of the “squad” are drawing criticism for encouraging voters to boycott Biden in the Democratic primary because he supported Israel in its conflict with Hamas terrorists based in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
The campaign for Samuels released a Victoria Research poll that found 519 Democratic voters in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district to be 41 percent in favor of Omar and Samuels.
The remaining 18% are either not sure yet or intend to vote in the primary over the summer for a candidate other than Omar or Samuels, the Daily Mail noted.
Samuels lost to Omar by a mere 2,466 votes, or slightly more than 2 percent, in the Democratic House primary of 2022.
Omar is the first woman to wear a headscarf on the House floor and the first Somali-American elected to Congress.
She is also a member of the so-called group of progressive lawmakers, which also includes Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who were first elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm elections.
In their respective Democratic presidential primaries last month, Representatives Omar and Tlaib—a Palestinian-American—both urged progressive voters in their states to cast “uncommitted” ballots.
The endeavor was a form of protest against President Biden’s support of Israel in its conflict with terrorists from Hamas, who operate out of Gaza, a Palestinian enclave.
Due to her ardent support of Palestine and her advocacy for voters to cast “uncommitted” ballots in the 2024 presidential primary in protest of Joe Biden’s pro-Israel policies, Omar has drawn criticism.
Omar has come under fire recently for her comments about Israel.
“A House Republican said on Tuesday that he was drafting a resolution to formally rebuke Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, for recent comments in which she suggested that some Jewish students at Columbia University were ‘pro-genocide,'” the New York Times reported.
“Representative Don Bacon, a Republican of Nebraska, does not yet have a timeline for releasing his censure resolution against Ms. Omar, a spokeswoman said. Bacon said the remark amounted to antisemitism from the congresswoman, a progressive firebrand and one of two Muslim women in the House, who has drawn criticism in the past for incendiary comments,” the outlet added.
“Folks can protest Israel, but don’t blame Jewish American students for Israel,” Mr. Bacon told Axios, which earlier reported his censure plans. “That is by definition antisemitism.”
Omar made the remarks while on a visit to the Morningside Heights campus in New York to show support for the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who included her activist daughter, a student.
She responded to a question about Jewish students who have experienced antisemitism on campus during an interview.
“I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe,” she said. “We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
“It’s not the language I would have chosen; it’s not something I would have said,” said Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the No. 3 Democrat. “We all have an obligation to turn the temperature down, especially when we’re in those positions where people are listening to us.”
