MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep.
Ilhan Omar, one of the progressive House members known as the “Squad” and a sharp critic of how Israel has conducted the war in Gaza, is trying to avoid the fate of two of her closest allies when Minnesota holds its primary elections Tuesday. Omar is defending her Minneapolis-area 5th District seat against a repeat challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, a more centrist liberal whom she only narrowly defeated in the 2022 primary. In the main statewide race on the ballot, conservative populist and former NBA player Royce White is facing a more conventional GOP candidate, Navy veteran Joe Fraser, for the right to challenge Democratic Sen.
Amy Klobuchar. Meanwhile, two newcomers are in a bitter fight for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in November in the mostly suburban 1st District.
Omar's fellow Squad member Rep. Cori Bush lost the Democratic nomination in Missouri last week. Rep.
Jamaal Bowman of New York lost his primary in June. The only charter member not facing a primary challenge is Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
Both Bush and Bowman 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 appears to be sitting out the Minnesota race. But Omar isn’t taking victory for granted. Omar reported spending $2.
3 million before .