New year, same result in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District DFL Primary Tuesday night.
Rep. Ilhan Omar defeated challenger Don Samuels for the second primary in a row, 56% to 43%, to seal a fourth term in Congress in the heavily Democratic-leaning district after November’s General Election. In 2022, Omar defeated Samuels by two points – about 2,400 votes.
Omar is part of the “squad” – a group of progressive Democratic members of Congress. Two members of the group, New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush both lost their primaries earlier this summer. Both attribute, in part, their defeats to significant money for their opponents from AIPAC. Last week, the Forward reported that AIPAC was not putting money behind the Samuels campaign, despite Omar’s history of statements that are perceived as antisemitic.
Samuels told the Forward that he thinks AIPAC is “missing an opportunity,” and his internal polls showed a closer race. “The only thing we don’t have is money to match hers – most of which she’s raised on the specter of these organizations engaging in the race,” he said.
According to the Federal Election Committee website, Samuels had around $250,000 cash on hand as of July 24; Omar had about $680,000.
One of the biggest shifts that happened in this election was in Anoka County. Although a small piece of the 5th District, Samuels won the 21 precincts in that county in 2022 by more than 8 points; Omar won it on Tuesday night by more than 3 points.
Omar’s relationship to the Jewish community has long been one filled with tensions, and those stem from a number of tweets — some of which dated back to 2012 and have since been deleted — that were deemed antisemitic, often stereotyping Jews with money and power, dual-loyalty. Most recently Omar said that Jewish students were either “pro-genocide” or “anti-genocide” on a visit to Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian encampment in April. She has been a vocal critic of Israel and its war with Hamas.
White Wins Senate Primary
Antisemitic conspiracy theorist Royce White was declared the winner of the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat, where he will challenge sitting Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November’s general election.
White had received the endorsement of the Minnesota Republican Party at their convention in May, but the Republican Jewish Coalition endorsed Joe Fraser, a Navy veteran. As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, White was leading Fraser by 9%, with six other candidates at fewer than 10%.
White, at a march and rally before a reported dozen or so people on July 4, said that the Federal Reserve bank is run by “Jewish elites,” citing Ben Bernanke – the former chair of the Federal Reserve who left the position in 2014.
“The first time I started my campaign at the Federal Reserve they said I was a debt hawk. And that I was dog-whistling antisemitism because I was at a place where a lot of Jewish elites actually run the Fed,” White said. “(Ben) Bernanke, you know – there’s a long list of them. So you can’t mention the Fed because of a Jewish person that works at the Fed – now you’re antisemitic.”
In 2022, White ran an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP’s nomination in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. In the build-up to that election, he went on a podcast of Dr. Scott Jensen, the Republican nominee for governor that year, losing to incumbent Gov. Tim Walz. White made the appearance to discuss mental health, and at the time his Twitter bio read: “American, Hotep, Blackface, Extremist, Alt-Right, Cis-Male, Sexist, Misogynist, Homophobic, Transphobic, Xenophobic, Antisemitic, Christian-Fundamentalist, etc.”
White used to be a regular on the Blaze TV show of former sportswriter-turned-conservative commentator Jason Whitlock, where he often decried the “globalist agenda,” and had previously complained of the “Jewish elite” and that it’s a problem when it’s suggested that there is a Jewish elite, there are cries of antisemitism.
Rabbi Morris Allen also had a relationship with the Imam. Both cut off their relationship when they learned of the statements.
Why are garbage comments like this from the “opinion-based” allowed on this site? You just lost my respect and I’ve opted out of your email updates.
The first “comment” is a clearly biased screed. A comment is supposed to be from an individual stating their opinion, not a re-post of an article. And Walz is not the person in the news story with the bias–it’s the Imam. The rest of the article isn’t about Walz at all. That post should be removed.
FYI, as a teacher, Walz included a very thorough and respectful Holocaust curriculum in his classroom, and his Master’s thesis is on Holocaust education. He is a leader in support for the Jewish community and for Israel’s existence.