Minnesota Republicans Trying To PUSH OUT Liberal Democratic Representative
Minnesota Republicans, inspired by Representative Cori Bush’s (D-MO) primary loss have launched an 11th-hour effort to oust Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the latest member of the “squad” to lose her job.
Omar will learn her fate in the August 11 primary, where she has three Democratic challengers. Minnesotans can vote in the primary of their choice with no party registration required.
Republicans are united behind Dalia Al-Aqidi, an old-fashioned Republican candidate who is running unopposed in Minnesota and she has rented out plenty of space to take votes from one or more real challengers for Omar.
The late push — much of it being spent on X — comes after major surprises this year in the Democratic primaries for two freshman members of Omar’s Squad trio.
Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was defeated back in June and Bush lost her primary last week. Public relations people are viewed with suspicion by voters as they attempt to explain that both Bush and Bowman’s attacks on Israel had “nothing” to do.
Her leading opponent is again Don Samuels, the candidate who fell 2,500 votes shy of beating Omar in a 2020 four-way primary.
Samuels made a run at Congress, but before that he worked as both a Minneapolis City Councilman and member of the Minneapolis School Board. Samuels, who was born in Jamaica, is more pro-Israel than Omar has been criticized for her anti-Semitic and Israel at Nuts comments since taking office last year. Omar has been getting heat for stepping up that rhetoric after more than 1,000 Israelis were slaughtered by Hamas on Oct. 7.
This April, Samuels slammed Omar for her vote last year against bipartisan legislation to rein in Iran, which drew near-unanimous Democratic support.
Samuels is in sync with mainstream Democratic positions on Israel, and the Gaza War. His website asks Hamas to release prisoners and give up control of Gaza, while urging Israel not to build new settlements and seek a two-state solution.
To push her above the Samuels threshold, Omar has ramped up fundraising, claiming about $6.2 million in a pre-primary financial disclosure to The Associated Press. Samuels brought in about $1.4 million
Both Bush and Bowman have chalked up their defeats to the United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked with AIPAC that spent at least $24 million against them. In her concession speech, she slammed these organizations in a blistering attack:” ‘AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.
Neither has the United Democracy Project which is backing Omar. In an interview with the Forward on Wednesday, Samuels said he feels that AIPAC is “leaving a vacuum open.”
A July poll puts Omar ahead of Samuels by 27 points, but an internal poll released this month from the Samuels camp showed him running just a hair behind her with more than 20 percent of voters undecided.
