Ilhan Omar snaps team’s summer losing streak

Representative Ilhan Omar speaks after winning the primary at the Nighthawks in Minneapolis, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.
Photo: Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio/AP

Ilhan Omar just broke a period of bad luck for the House’s progressives, after winning the disputed primary on Tuesday night.

The three-term Minnesota congresswoman fended off a primary challenge from Don Samuels, likely securing a re-election victory in her safely Democratic district in November. Samuels, a former Minneapolis City Council Democrat, sought to portray Omar as politically divisive and out of touch with her constituents, pointing to her positions on Israel’s war on Gaza as well as her vote against President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package. He previously challenged Omar in 2022, losing his bid by just two points.

It is a reversal of a losing streak for the House progressive group called the Squad, which is largely supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In June, Jamaal Bowman of New York was soundly defeated by George Latimer, the former Westchester County Executive who was actively recruited by the pro-Israel group in Bowman’s primary. And just last week, Cori Bush of Missouri lost to her opponent Wesley Bell, the district attorney of St. Louis County by a considerable margin. In Omar’s case, she significantly outbid Samuels: $6.2 million compared to her opponent’s $1.4 million, according to the Associated Press.

Despite Omar’s strong opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza, AIPAC was notably absent from her race, as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported at the end of July. By contrast, the group’s super PAC United Democracy Project spent $14.5 million to unseat Bowman, helping make the New York race the most expensive primary in history. The PAC also poured nearly $9 million into Bush’s Missouri race, according to NBC News. The level of impact AIPAC had is debatable, however, given that Bowman and Bush were likely seen as particularly vulnerable compared to their fellow team members. Bowman, for example, was censured by his House colleagues after pulling a fire alarm during crucial negotiations to avoid a government shutdown in 2023. Bush, meanwhile, is currently under investigation by the Justice Department over spending her campaign after it was discovered that she had retained her husband’s services as part of his security team. She denied using federal funds for personal security.

Many members of the team went through the primary cycle without a substantial challenger. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York received more than 80 percent of the vote over investment banker Marty Dolan in her June primary. Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib — a Palestinian American who accused the president of supporting the genocide in Gaza — she did not face a challenger in her primary, while Massachusetts congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is currently running unopposed in her district.