Ilhan Omar fends off challengers to win primary after AIPAC stays out of the race

Omar defeated an opponent who was just 2 points short of ousting Omar in 2022.

Ilhan Omar, who is the last member of the progressive Squad in this cycle to have a primary, defeated her opponents on Tuesday in the 5th District, which includes Minneapolis.

Omar defeated Don Samuels, an ex-member of the Minneapolis City Council, who was just two points short of defeating her in the midterms. She also beat out two lesser known competitors. Her victory comes a week after Missouri Rep. Cori bush lost her primary election in an event that attracted millions of dollars from pro-Israel groups.

Omar’s campaign did not see the same level of spending and she was less opposed than in previous years.

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AIPAC super PAC United Democracy Project spent six figures in 2022 against Omar, a refugee from the civil war in Somalia. Omar is a Somalian refugee who was the first Muslim woman in Congress. She has also been a vocal critic of Israel. AIPAC did not make a public push for Omar this time. However, she warned about its influence on her race and raised money off it.

Omar was the dominant fundraiser in this cycle. Her millions of dollars raised before the primary dwarfed Samuels’ haul. (Samuels’ fundraising did increase after AIPAC-backed Wesley Bell ousted Bush last week. Samuels has been critical of the lack intervention in his favor. He believes that outside spending by pro-Israel groups would have helped him. Samuels told POLITICO in an interview that he felt “vulnerable” without any outside support.

AIPAC is strategic in its investments, and has backed off from attempting to unseat some candidates it had targeted in the past. Bush and Rep. Jamaal BOWMAN (D-NY), the other Squad Member the group spent heavily on, both had other weaknesses that would have made reelection difficult for them even if the flood of money hadn’t come against them. The group also chose not to get involved in the Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee primary, which she won easily, earlier this year.

Why not take on Omar again, especially since Samuels almost defeated her the last time around? Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which endorsed her, pointed to her establishment backing and the makeup of the district, which is home to progressive Minneapolis. Martin also said that “no money will help Samuels.”

Martin stated that Omar’s coalition building skills have improved since her first run.

Ayanna pressley, a Massachusetts Representative, is the only Squad member who has not yet had a primaries. She is running unopposed in both the primaries and general elections, so she will be reelected in the fall. Other members of the Squad were also unaffected because they did not face primary challenges either.

Some progressives are concerned about the future of the progressive movement in light of Bowman’s and Bush’s high-profile defeats. They also wonder if they will be able to fight against the inflow of dollars that is expected in the coming years.