With just 10 days left before the Aug. 13 primary, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his star power to a rally in Minneapolis in support of US. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s reelection bid.
The rally was held at Edison High School’s auditorium, the congresswoman’s alma mater.
Rep. Omar is facing a primary challenge for the second time from former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels. Samuels came within two percentage points of defeating Omar in the 2022 Democratic party primary.
In the rematch between the two, Omar is the Democratic Party endorsed candidate and has vastly outraised Samuels in campaign contributions. The nonpartisan Open Secrets nonprofit that tracks money in American politics, reported the Omar campaign has raised over $6.4 million in the current election cycle and had a cash on hand amounting to $1.8 million by the June 30 campaign finance filing required by law. Samuels on the other hand has raised $1.2 million in the same cycle and has 334,382 cash on hand.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who spoke at the rally and has endorsed Rep. Omar, blamed the narrow 2022 win to “complacency” by supporters for not taking the election seriously and “reminding everyone there is a primary.”
“We need to reelect Ilhan Omar to the United States Congress, she is not only one of the outstanding and most courageous members of the Congress, she is not only someone who has and will take on the enormously powerful special interests” said Sanders, to cheers from the packed audience. “She is one of the toughest people that I know.”
The rally also comes about a week after the Omar campaign released a polling memo showing she had the support of 60% of 400 potential voters surveyed – with Mr. Samuels at 33%. An earlier poll in February commissioned by the Samuels campaign showed Omar leading the former councilman by 19 points. Since then and leading to the July poll showing her lead widening, Rep. Omar has been airing TV and radio ads, as well as advertising in ethnic media.
Details and links to the two polls can be found on the FiveThirtyEight website.
Sanders was full of praise for Rep. Omar and said it was important to get her back to Congress so she can help him in fighting to cancel student debt, raising the minimum wage and making healthcare affordable for all, and most importantly, expand Medicare.
The Vermont Senator also encouraged the crowd to get ready to elect Vice President Kamala Harris as the next president but cautioned that it will take a lot of work.
Rep. Omar encouraged the crowd to get ready to knock on doors and encourage their friends and neighbors to vote in the primary to ensure victory.
“I am ready and we need every single person, and as Senator Smith said, the last election was close not because we do not have the support, but because we did not remind everyone they needed to go out and vote,” said Omar.
Early voting is already underway for the August 13 primary. We have an earlier story on how to vote early and getting ready to vote at this link.
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About Tom Gitaa Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.
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