Congresswoman Ilhan Omar wins DFL primary for 5th Congressional District

The US Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, has won the DFL primary for the 5th Congressional District on Wednesday August 12, 2020.

Omar defeated her challenger, Antone Melton-Meaux, with 57.44 percent of the vote to Melton Meaux’s 39.18 percent.

While commenting about her victory, Rep. Omar posted on her Twitter after her victory that, “In Minnesota, we know that organized people will always beat organized money.

“Tonight, our movement didn’t just win. We earned a mandate for change. Despite outside efforts to defeat us, we once again broke turnout records.

“Despite the attacks, our support has only grown. This election isn’t about me. It’s about an agenda rooted in people’s everyday struggles—and the corporations and rightwing donors who are threatened by it.

“It’s about standing up to a President who promised to ban an entire group of people from this country based solely on their Muslim identity, calls our countries of origin ‘s***hole countries,’ and threatened to send us back to where we came from.”

She added that it’s about standing up for the basic human rights around the world—and fighting a military-industrial complex that opposes the recognition of people’s humanity and dignity.

“It has been the honor of my life to represent you in Congress and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of the 5th District in the years to come,” she added.

The Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District was in the national spotlight.

Rep. Omar is running for her second term in Congress. She faced four challengers in the Democratic primary, but Melton-Meaux posed the biggest threat to unseat her.

Melton-Meaux says he voted for Omar in 2018 as she made history in becoming the first Somali-American elected to Congress.

The mediation attorney has become a surprise player in the Democratic primary that many expected Omar to win easily. Melton-Meaux raised an eye-popping $3.2 million in the second quarter, and has the backing of pro-Israel groups that are spending large amounts of money on his behalf.

Omar rejects the criticism that she’s been too focused on celebrity and controversies to work for the congressional district, which includes Minneapolis and several inner-ring suburbs to the north, west and south of the city.