Posted on August 15, 2018

Ilhan Omar, a Progressive Muslim Woman, Wins Minnesota Primary for Keith Ellison’s House Seat

Tara Golshan, Vox, August 14, 2018

Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar will likely become one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress after winning a heated Democratic primary in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District on Tuesday.

Omar, a 36-year-old Somali refugee who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, beat a packed field of six candidates in the race to fill current Rep. Keith Ellison’s seat. {snip}

Given the district’s partisan makeup (Cook Political Report rates it D+26), Omar is all but assured of being elected to the House in November. She should be joined by Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib as the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Tlaib won last week’s primary to replace disgraced Rep. John Conyers, who resigned after sexual misconduct allegations, in another safe Democratic district.

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Omar, the first Somali-American Muslim to be elected to the Minnesota legislature or any elected office in the United States, is also part of a historic wave of women looking to clinch higher office this year. {snip}

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The makeup of the district has allowed progressive politics to flourish. Omar ran a lefty platform of Medicare-for-all, a $15 minimum, and tuition-free college.

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