The congresswoman of the Democratic Alliance and a member of the “Party”, Ilhan Omar, has solved the challenge of the first election in Minnesota, according to US media reports.
Ms. Omar faced three challenges in the first race to decide the party’s nominee and will now go on to the November election in the heavily Democratic 5th District.
The race was closely watched after the successful challengers fielded two members of “The Party” – a group of progressive Democrats who have been among the most vocal critics in Congress of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza.
It was one of the first races on Tuesday in Connecticut, Wisconsin, Vermont and Minnesota.
With 99% of the votes counted on Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported that Ms. Omar won with 67,524 votes, or just over 56%.
The runner-up was Don Samuels, a former Minneapolis City Council member who also narrowly lost to Ms. Omar in 2022.
He received less than 49% of the vote on Tuesday.
Earlier this month Representative Cori Bush of Missouri He lost his first race in June Jamaal Bowman in New York he lost again — both after pro-Israel groups poured millions into those races in support of other Democrats.
They were elected in 2020 in the midst of a year of racial justice protests after the Minneapolis killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man.
Super-Pac operated by the pro-Israel group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee appears to have dropped out of Ms. Omar’s race.
It spent millions in the races against Mr. Bowman and Mrs. Bush, according to data from Open Secrets, which tracks political spending.
Super-Pacs are independent “political action committees” that can raise unlimited amounts of money to support a candidate.
The Intercept reported on Sunday that a last-minute effort by wealthy Israeli donors raised a total of six pounds to help Mr. Samuels.
Opinion polls revealed that Ms. Omar will win this challenge.
An internal survey conducted last month found him to be ahead by 30 points, according to media reports.
Ms Omar has received help on the campaign trail from progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president.
Ms. Omar, who was born in Somalia, is one of the first Muslims to be elected to the US Congress.
He had been an outspoken critic of Israel even before the Gaza war.
He was removed by the Republican-controlled House from the House Foreign Affairs Committee in February 2023 due to numerous comments he had made about Israel.
Democrats and Ms. Omar said at the time it was retaliation after two Republicans were kicked off committees in 2020 when Democrats held the majority of the House.
In 2019, Ms. Omar appeared to suggest that Israel wanted “loyalty” from American lawmakers and any criticism was considered antisemitic, implying that the money was pro-Israel.
Ms. Omar apologized for those words.
In 2022, when the two last faced each other, Ms Omar received 50% of the vote and Mr Samuels received 48%.
Democratic Senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar, who has served in the upper house of the US Congress since 2007, won her first challenge again on Tuesday.
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