Ilhan Omar to face rematch in 2024 primary

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) will face a prominent challenger in 2024, as former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who ran against her in 2022, announced he will once again try to unseat the prominent progressive.

"Ilhan hasn't helped herself," Samuels said during an interview on a local radio station. "She has made missteps, even after the last race. There are some folks who are coming [to support me] because of what I am, who I am, and what I will do. And some are coming because of what she’s done and what she’ll do.”

Omar narrowly defeated Samuels by about 2 percentage points in the primary in 2022, though she went on to trounce her Republican opponent in the general election in the deep blue district. Now Samuels hopes to close that gap amid backlash against Omar and other left-wing members of the “Squad” over their stance on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“So we have to remember that Israel is our ally. Hamas is, in fact, a terrorist organization. But our No. 1 allies are justice and peace," he said in a during the interview with WCCO radio Sunday.

Samuels is the latest challenger to take on a member of the Squad. Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Summer Lee (D-Pa.) are all also facing challengers, some who cited the members' stance on Israel as part of their motivation for running.

Omar defended her record Sunday in a statement to the Forward, an independent Jewish publication. “I’ve continued to fight for the progressive values Minnesotans sent me to advocate for," she said.