Hiiraan Online

By HIBAH ANSARI
Wednesday November 9, 2022

Representative Ilhan Omar at a watch party on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Credit: Jaida Grey Eagle | Sahan Journal

Democrats from Minneapolis and St. Paul coasted back to Congress Tuesday night.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was reelected to represent Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District for a third term. Congresswoman Betty McCollum has also been reelected in Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District.

At a recent town hall meeting in Richfield, Omar said she would prioritize housing, foreign policy, and environmental work in her third term.

Omar became the first Somali and refugee elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018. She was elected alongside a group of progressive freshman congresswomen of color—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib—who formed “the Squad,” a group that has since grown with the election of Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman in 2020.

Omar narrowly defeated former Minneapolis City Council member and public safety advocate Don Samuels in the DFL primary in August. Omar received 51 percent of the vote. Samuels received 48 percent of vote and conceded with 98 percent of precincts reporting.

With over 700,000 residents, the Fifth Congressional District is the most populous in the state and also the most safely Democratic. The district includes the city of Minneapolis and its outer suburbs.

Representative Betty McCollum has also been reelected in Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District, where she’s served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 20 years.

McCollum defeated Republican challenger May Lor Xiong, according to Decision Desk HQ, which called the race shortly after polls closed. Xiong became the first Hmong candidate to win a Republican congressional primary in the United States in August. Vote totals are still being tallied.

The Fourth Congressional District includes the city of St. Paul and its surrounding suburbs.