Progressive Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) will have to fight to defend her seat in 2024.
Former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels who narrowly lost to Omar during the last election announced Sunday that he will once again try to unseat the prominent House progressive.
“Ilhan hasn't helped herself,” Samuels said after formally announcing his campaign on WCCO News Talk 830 Radio. “She has made missteps, even after the last race. There are some folks who are coming [to support me] because of what I am, who I am, and what I will do. And some are coming because of what she's done and what she'll do.”
Omar, a Somali American and Muslim, has come under renewed fire for condemning the Israeli government's handling of the war against Hamas. (RELATED: Fellow Democrat Rebukes Squad's Response To Ongoing Armed Conflict)
“We have to remember that Israel is our ally,” Samuels said of the conflict on WCCO. “Hamas is in fact a terrorist organization. But our number one allies are justice and peace.”
“Our congresswoman has a predilection to divisiveness and conflict,” Samuels said of Omar in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his official announcement Sunday.
While Samuels was defeated by Omar by about 2 percentage points the more centrist Democrat says it emphasizes the fact Omar is beatable.
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