Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar will likely become one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress – and the first Somali-American – after winning a hotly contested Democratic primary in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District last night.
Omar, a 36-year-old Somali-American refugee who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, is likely to join Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib as the first Muslim women in Congress.
Omar led the six-way Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party field with 48 percent of the vote, when The Associated Press called the race.
If Omar wins in November, as expected, she would also be one of first Muslim-American women in Congress. Tlaib won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s heavily Democratic 13th District last week, and she faces no GOP opposition in November.
Omar would take Representative Keith Ellison’s seat in Congress. Ellison is running for state attorney general, winning his primary Tuesday night for that job.
