Hundreds of Somali-Americans in the U.S. city of Minneapolis celebrated Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s victory to a fifth term in the House of Representatives. Omar addressed supporters at Karmel Mall, one of the city’s main gathering places for Somalis, telling them: “We are going to Congress together.”
Unofficial results released by the Minnesota secretary of state’s office after all precincts had been counted showed Omar receiving 262,702 votes, or 76.48%, compared with 16.23% for her Republican challenger, John Nagle, a former state patrol officer, and 7.02% for independent candidate Devin Jackson—a margin of roughly 60 percentage points.
Omar, who was born in Somalia, first entered Congress in 2018, becoming the first African refugee to serve there. She has represented the Fifth Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis and its nearby suburbs, ever since. After her victory was announced, she wrote: “Thank you, Minnesota! I am deeply honored to continue representing you in the House with a strong mandate. We will not let Trump silence us.”
Dancing to a Somali song
Omar danced with her supporters to a Somali song alongside Somali hip-hop singer Qays Alkasi as those attending chanted.
The celebrants sang along to lyrics translated and posted on social media by one attendee: “You cannot insult me except out of bitterness.”
Raid and criminal investigation
The victory came weeks after agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative unit searched Omar’s home in Washington in October as part of a criminal investigation, according to the Justice Department. Officials have pointed to her immigration record, including unsubstantiated allegations that her 2009 marriage was a sham and that her father provided false information about her age on citizenship applications. Omar, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000, has not been charged, and no evidence that she committed violations has been made public. She described the raid as a “blatant abuse of power” and the investigation as a “tactic of intimidation.”
Tom Homan, the Trump administration official responsible for border affairs, had said that the administration was considering stripping Omar of her citizenship—a step legal experts say would be unprecedented against a member of Congress. Trump called on her in 2019 to “go back” to her country of origin, described her as “garbage” and called for her to be investigated. Omar told The Nation magazine days before the vote: “Trump has an unhealthy and disturbing obsession with me.” She described herself as “a woman, an immigrant, a refugee and a Muslim woman who wears the hijab” and “a person who refuses to be intimidated into silence.”
Videos: Dalsan TV, social media. Photos: Minnesota secretary of state’s office, Ilhan Omar, Clash Report
