‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar breezes past challenger in Minnesota Democrat primary

Ilhan Omar, a member of the progressive “squad” in Congress, breezed past a well-funded Antone Melton-Meaux campaign to clinch the Minnesota Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Ms Omar, who became one of the first two Muslim women to enter Congress after being elected in 2018, collected 57 per cent of the votes in the 5th congressional district contest, with Melton-Meaux, an attorney and mediator, gaining just under 40 per cent.

Ms Omar, 37, overcame attack lines by Mr Melton-Meaux that she had become out of touch with Minnesota residents, after rising to national attention with her 2018 victory.

With a substantial war chest of around $4.1m, Mr Melton-Meaux, a first-time candidate, plastered the district’s walls with posters and filled the airwaves with the slogan “Focused on the Fifth”.

“Tonight, our movement didn’t just win,” Ms Omar tweeted. “We earned a mandate for change. Despite outside efforts to defeat us, we once again broke turnout records. Despite the attacks, our support has only grown.”

Minnesota’s Democrat-leaning 5th congressional district has not elected a Republican in decades, meaning that Ms Omar’s victory all but guarantees her a seat in Congress.

Her victory is the latest in a string of wins by a new generation of emboldened progressive lawmakers, known as the progressive “squad”, a group that entered the House in 2018 and includes New York’s firebrand Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Ms Omar’s camp grew in confidence after primary victories last week by fellow “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and by Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist who ousted a longtime St. Louis-area congressman. AOC has also won her primary.

They also claimed momentum from the renewed focus on racial and economic justice after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.

“I’m also incredibly proud of the work that we did, that garnered at least over 60,000 votes from the district, from people who resonated with our message of effective leadership grounded in the district, and bringing people together to get things done,” Mr Melton-Meaux added following Ms Omar’s win.

Democratic US senator Tina Smith and Republican challenger Jason Lewis easily won their primaries in the only statewide races on the ballot.

Elsewhere, in western Minnesota’s conservative 7th district, former state senator Michelle Fischbach won a three-way Republican race for the right to challenge Democrat Collin Peterson. Mr Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is one of the GOP’s top targets to flip a House seat in November.

After entering Congress with fanfare, Ms Omar hurt herself early with comments about Israel and money that even some fellow Democrats called anti-Semitic, and found herself apologising. She also came under scrutiny when her marriage fell apart and she married her political consultant months after denying they were having an affair.

Republicans also raised questions about continuing payments to her new husband’s firm, though experts said they aren’t necessarily improper.

In the wake of Mr Floyd’s death, police reform also emerged as an issue. Ms Omar supported a push by a majority of the Minneapolis City Council to replace the city’s police department with something new.

Mr Melton-Meaux did not support that but did support shifting some funding away from police to more social service-oriented programmes. Both touched on the issue in personal ways, with Ms Omar saying she wanted her son to grow up safely.

Mr Melton-Meaux, who is also black, told a personal story of being detained while at the University of Virginia by police seeking an assault suspect reported to have run into his apartment building.

Wendy Helgeson, 57, a consultant, backed Ms Omar two years ago, even installing a lawn sign in her yard, and said she was “awfully proud of her being the first black Muslim woman that we elected.”

But she said she was concerned about campaign payments to Ms Omar’s husband’s firm as well as her national presence and found it easy to vote for Mr Melton-Meaux, whom she said has been her friend for 12 years.

“I admire her as a woman,” Ms Helgeson said of Omar. “As a candidate, ehhh ... I have some reservations.”

John Hildebrand, a 47-year-old teacher in Minneapolis who voted for Ms Omar, said her national profile is an advantage.

“I think just her presence encourages other Muslims and Somalis to run for office and to seek to be represented,” he said. “I think she just engages people in the political system more and more.”

Blake Smith, 23, a parks worker who is Black and described himself as a leftist, also backed Ms Omar. He’s concerned about climate change, Medicare for all and getting money out of politics, and he sees her as an ally.

“It’s more time for radical change than like small — I don’t think we have time for incremental change anymore,” Mr Smith said.

Associated Press contributed to this report