Ilhan Omar Projected To Win Minnesota's 5th District
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is projected to be re-elected to Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.
Omar has represented Minnesota's 5th District since 2018, when she became the first Somali-American elected to Congress. She called the projected win an affirmation of her people-first agenda.
"We invited people—not corporations or special interests—to set the agenda and changed the politics of what is possible," Omar said Tuesday evening. "We centered marginalized people in our politics. We didn't allow fear and hatred to divide us - because we know that my destiny, your destiny and the destiny of workers around the world is linked. And true democracy means self determination for millions of working class people across this country."
Omar says her win two years ago made history in Minnesota and changed politics in Washington.
"We shifted the narrative of who can serve in Congress. We changed rules and so that a Muslim woman with a hijab can vote on the House floor We held a corrupt president accountable. And we made it possible for generations more who look like us to serve. But most importantly: we built solidarity," she said.
Omar, a vocal critic of the President Donald Trump and his policies, has been a frequent target of Trump's Twitter attacks.
She has been a lightning rod through her first term, accused of anti-Semitic remarks. And critics have made a great deal out of Omar using her own husband as a campaign consultant and paying him more than a million dollars. Her husband is a well known progressive consultant and that does not violate any campaign laws.
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Challenger Lacy Johnson, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, describes himself as an entrepreneur who has lived in north Minneapolis for 40 years.
"We appreciate the diversity, vibrancy and voice Lacy Johnson brought to the fifth congressional district with his candidacy for Congress," GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan said. "Too often Republicans believe running in the fifth is an uphill battle, but Lacy Johnson showed us what's possible. He assembled an unprecedented amount of financial support and greatly improved the Republican vote percentage by connecting with people and sharing his vision."
Minnesota's 5th Congressional District includes Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs that usually tilt Democratic. The district hasn't been represented by a Republican since the 1960s.