Rep. Ilhan Omar defeats Don Samuels in Democratic primary for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District
MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar decisively won the Democratic primary for her district Tuesday, widening her margin of victory in a rematch against Don Samuels whom she just narrowly beat two years ago.
The Associated Press called the race for Omar, who is in her third term. She won by 13 percentage points in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. She received 56.2% compared to Samuels' 42.9%.
"I am incredibly honored by this victory tonight," Omar told a jubilant crowd of supporters on the patio of a Minneapolis restaurant Tuesday. "I am honored to represent the people who welcomed me and my family as refugees to this incredible state."
Her constituents in Minneapolis and the inner ring suburbs make up one of the most deeply blue Congressional districts in the country, voting reliably for Democrats in general elections for decades. She will likely cruise to victory this fall against her Republican opponent. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report puts the 5th District in a "solid Democratic" column, estimating a margin of victory of 30 points.
Omar and Samuels first ran against each other for the Democratic nomination in 2022, when she defeated him by roughly 2,500 votes — or two percentage points — in that primary.
Omar focused on this match-up in a way she hadn't two years ago. She doubled down on organizing supporters to get them to turn out to the polls. She spent money on television ads and her team contacted tens of thousands of voters in the final days, she said.
Meanwhile, former Minneapolis City Councilmember Samuels told WCCO Tuesday he took lessons from that campaign and scaled up his operation this time. Campaign volunteers, he said, grew 13-fold from just around 100 to more than 1,300 working on his behalf. He also declared his candidacy sooner than he did two years ago to have more of a runway in the lead-up to the primary.
"We had a close call and that inspired many people who are on the fence to think with a little more of their help, we could have won," Samuels said of his 2022 loss. "That feeling of regret and apology turned into energy and people jumped on board in a way that I've never seen before."
But ultimately, he fell short Tuesday and the gap between them widened.
In a statement, Samuels conceded the race to Omar and praised the work of his campaign.
"Still, we believe the results show that people are hungry for a different approach to leadership, one that is focused on the people of the 5th Congressional District and the challenges they face," he said. "Taking on an incumbent, let alone a party-endorsed incumbent with a national fundraising base is a Herculean task."
As the results became clear Tuesday, DFL Party Chair Ken Martin, who was at Omar's watch party, said he had expected the outcome.
"The last time it was close because, she would acknowledge as much, she didn't run as vigorous of a campaign," Martin said. "She ran a vigorous campaign this time, highly visible, very organized, so the margin shouldn't surprise anyone."
To national observers, Tuesday's election was largely seen as another test for progressive members of the U.S. House known as the "Squad." Some faced primary defeats, like Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri.
Omar made history in 2019 as the first Somali-American to be elected to Congress, and one of two Muslim women sworn in.