Representative Ilhan Omar speaks after winning the primary at Nighthawks in Minneapolis, Tuesday, August 13, 2024.
Photo: Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio/AP
Ilhan Omar just broke a monthslong stretch of bad luck for House progressives after winning her contested primary on Tuesday night.
The three-term Minnesota congresswoman fended off a primary challenge from Don Samuels, likely ensuring a reelection victory in her reliably Democratic district in November. Samuels, a former Democratic member of the Minneapolis City Council, attempted to paint Omar as politically divisive and out of touch with her constituents, pointing to her positions on Israel’s war in Gaza as well as her vote against President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package. He previously challenged Omar in 2022, losing his bid by only two points.
It’s a reversal of the losing streak for the group of House progressives dubbed the Squad, largely backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In June, Jamaal Bowman of New York was soundly defeated by George Latimer, the former Westchester County executive who was actively recruited by the pro-Israel group to primary Bowman. And just last week, Cori Bush of Missouri lost to her opponent Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, by a sizable margin. In Omar’s case, she significantly outraised Samuels: $6.2 million in comparison to her opponent’s $1.4 million, according to the Associated Press.
Despite Omar’s strong opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, AIPAC was notably absent from her race, as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported late July. By contrast, the group’s super-PAC United Democracy Project spent $14.5 million to unseat Bowman, helping to make the New York race the most expensive House primary in history. The PAC also put nearly $9 million into Bush’s race in Missouri, per NBC News. The level of impact AIPAC had is debatable, though, given that Bowman and Bush were likely seen as uniquely vulnerable in comparison to their fellow Squad members. Bowman, for instance, was censured by his House colleagues after pulling a fire alarm during crucial negotiations to avoid a government shutdown in 2023. Bush, meanwhile, is currently being investigated by the Justice Department over her campaign’s spending after it was discovered that she had retained her husband’s services as part of her security team. She has denied that she used federal funds for personal security.
Many members of the Squad made it through the primary cycle without a substantial challenger. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York received more than 80 percent of the vote over investment banker Marty Dolan in her June primary. Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib — a Palestinian American who has accused the president of supporting genocide in Gaza — did not face a challenger in her primary, while Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts congresswoman, is also currently running unopposed in her district.
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