MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar faced a spirited challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels in Tuesday's 5th District DFL primary.
The nationally known congresswoman is seeking a third term to represent the reliably blue 5th District seat that includes Minneapolis and nearby suburbs. Omar held a narrow lead over Samuels with most of the results in as this edition went to press.
Hovering over the contentious primary was Omar's support for last year's failed Minneapolis ballot question to replace the city's police department with a new public safety agency after George Floyd's death, and her unsuccessful effort to oust Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey by endorsing two of his challengers.
"You know what? You put in the work and you will produce," said Omar before the polls closed. "We're hoping for the best."
Standing on the corner of NE. Broadway and Central Avenue with her yellow Labrador Teddy and her husband, Omar said she'd been out talking to voters all day and doesn't get nervous on Election Day.
"You do all the work and you wait for the results," she said. "That's why we go on hard."
Omar, 39, is the first Somali American and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
Samuels, 73, is a Jamaican immigrant who has organized for over two decades against gun violence after a bullet pierced his home in north Minneapolis.
"Nobody believes you can win," Samuels said before the polls closed when asked about running against Omar. "And people believed that the status quo was set, that we had to settle for what we had, and in fact I think that's one of the reasons that I'm the only real contestant in this race against her."
Samuels has tried to portray himself as less politically volatile than Omar while evoking their differing views on last November's policing ballot measure. Omar was a vocal supporter of the measure, while Samuels helped organize the successful effort to defeat the question.
"People are ready for change," Samuels said of the primary race. "They want real constituent service, real representation in D.C. and real effectiveness."
Two years ago, Omar overcame a well-funded primary challenge from Antone Melton-Meaux and won by around 20 points. While Samuels hasn't gotten the fundraising numbers that Melton-Meaux saw, he outraised Omar in recent months.
Frey, along with the mayors of St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Edina and New Hope endorsed Samuels' intraparty challenge to Omar. Frey's endorsement comes after Omar backed two challengers to Frey's re-election last fall.
Omar had the DFL endorsement, along with the support of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who held the Fifth District seat before Omar, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, nationally known progressive senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and a number of local mayors and elected officials.
On primary day at North Regional Library in Minneapolis, 72-year-old Carolyn Pinke voted for Samuels, saying "I like his points of view on things."
"He's a very good man," she said, adding that she supported his work to defeat "the defund-the-police movement."
At the Van Cleve Recreation Center in Minneapolis' Como neighborhood, Mya Halvorson said she was excited to cast her ballot for Omar after seeing "the well-funded campaign against her."
"I think she does a good job at pushing a progressive agenda that is representative of what people here in Minneapolis want as well," Halvorson, 21, said.
The contours of this year's primary are different from the scene that emerged in 2020, when Omar's fate was closely watched nationally as money poured into the primary contest. The localized nature of this race, and the relitigating of the policing amendment, has made for a different dynamic this cycle.
Omar has continued to build recognition and stir controversy in her second term, further establishing herself as a progressive voice in Washington. She broke from many in her party by voting against a major infrastructure package, a Russian oil ban and $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome defense system.
Also on the DFL primary ballot were AJ Kern, Albert Ross and Nate Schluter.
On the Republican side, GOP-endorsed candidate Cicely Davis was leading Royce White and Guy Gaskin to challenge the Democratic candidate in the November midterm election.
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(Star Tribune staff writers Rochelle Olson and Katie Galioto contributed to this report.)
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