Congratulations Queen. |
A good night for Minnesota.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, you two got my support (for now).
AIPAC backed Don Samuels lost his second attempt to oust progressive lawmaker Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Omar will join Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) in the 119th Congress if they win their general.
Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) lost their primaries to challengers who were staunchly supportive of Israel. Goode also took even more of a hit because of his support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Former president Donald J. Trump, Kevin McCarthy and AIPAC backed John McGuire. Bowman and Bush were defeated by two AIPAC backed candidates George Latimer and Wesley Bell.
I am honored that my community voted to *send me back to Congress*. Tonight’s victory shows that the Fifth District believes in the collective values we are fighting for in Washington. pic.twitter.com/DwcRVI55fQ
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 14, 2024
We have a lot to be proud of. We brought home $54 million for local projects that will improve the lives of generations to come. We passed the most impactful pieces of legislation in decades.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 14, 2024
Tonight, special interests lost and our movement won. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it. Every single person who contributed made this moment possible.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 14, 2024
I am committed to doing everything possible to unite the district to win big in November and ensure Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are elected as the next President and Vice President of the United States.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 14, 2024
But tonight we celebrate.
While you're here, sign the No AIPAC Cash Pledge to tell candidates you won't vote for anyone who takes AIPAC money!https://t.co/SeXrPsqQYi
— AIPAC Tracker (@TrackAIPAC) August 14, 2024
Both faced well-funded challengers and millions of dollars in spending by the United Democracy Project, a super political action committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which appeared to sit out the Minnesota race.
Omar, a vocal critic of Israel is the first African American woman and one of three Muslim Americans to serve in Congress. Tlaib and Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) are Muslim.
Omar is often vilified with the rhetoric of colonialism. She and Tlaib being outspoken have often led to members of their own party as well as Republicans to criticize them.
They claim they support terrorists and are anti-American.
It's because they aren't following the status quo of bowing to a foreign apartheid ethnostate like Israel.
Samuels had criticized Omar’s condemnation of the Israeli government’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. While Omar has also criticized Hamas for attacking Israel and taking hostages, Samuels said she’s one-sided and divisive. He also stressed public safety issues in Minneapolis, where a former police officer murdered George Floyd in 2020.
Samuels said he was “very disappointed” with his loss.
“What I was hoping is that a strong ground game and an attention to the details of folks who felt left out would trump an overwhelming superiority in dollars,” he said in an interview. “Clearly money matters a little more in politics than I had hoped.”
Omar will face Republican Dalia Al-Aqidi, an Iraqi American journalist and self-described secular Muslim who calls Omar pro-Hamas.
Meanwhile, conservative populist and former NBA player Royce White defeated Navy veteran Joe Fraser in Minnesota’s primary election for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November.
Take a seat Don. |
And former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab, supported by former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and the National Republican Congressional Committee, won a contested GOP primary for Minnesota’s 2nd District seat held by Democratic Rep. Angie Craig.
His opponent, defense attorney Tayler Rahm, won the endorsement at the district convention with support from grassroots conservatives.
While Rahm announced in July that he was suspending his campaign and would instead serve as a senior adviser for Trump’s Minnesota campaign, he remained on the ballot.
Teirab will face Craig in what’s expected to be Minnesota’s most competitive House race in November.
Craig issued a statement following Teirab’s win calling him “a guy who recently moved to the district because he saw a political opportunity.”
“He’s a guy who has spent months doing anything to win the support of Washington Republicans,” Craig said. “And he’s a guy who has made it his life’s mission to take away reproductive freedoms from families and give those decisions to politicians.”
In the U.S. Senate race, White — an ally of imprisoned former Trump aide Steve Bannon and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — shocked many political observers when he defeated Fraser at the party convention for the GOP endorsement.
Ilhan had the city of Minneapolis backing her. |
White’s social media comments have been denounced as misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic and profane. His legal and financial problems include unpaid child support and questionable campaign spending, including $1,200 spent at a Florida strip club after he lost his primary challenge to Omar in 2022. He argues that, as a Black man, he can broaden the party’s base by appealing to voters of color in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and others disillusioned with establishment politics.
Following his win, White said in a post on the social platform X: “Bring it on commies… The People Are Coming.”
Fraser has said White’s confrontational style and message won’t attract the moderates and independents needed for a competitive challenge against Klobuchar, who’s seeking a fourth term. He said he offers a more mainstream approach, stressing fiscal conservativism, a strong defense, world leadership and small government. Fraser has also highlighted his 26 years in the Navy, where he was an intelligence officer and served a combat tour in Iraq.
Neither had anywhere near the resources that Klobuchar has. White last reported raising $133,000, while Fraser took in $68,000. Klobuchar, meanwhile, has collected about $19 million this cycle and has more than $6 million available to spend on the general election campaign. She faced only nominal primary opposition.
Another clash between establishment and grassroots Republicans played out in western Minnesota’s 7th District. Trump-backed GOP Rep. Michelle Fischbach, considered one of the most conservative members of Congress, defeated small businessman Steve Boyd. Boyd ran to her right on a religious platform and blocked her from getting endorsement at the district convention. Boyd reported spending $170,000, while Fischbach spent over $1 million.