Despite a well-funded opponent and some rumblings that her Congressional seat was at risk, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar won her Minnesota primary election on Tuesday.
CNN reports that Omar defeated challenger Antone Melton-Meaux, who raised more than $4.1 million to run against Omar. (Omar raised $4.3 million, but she’s the incumbent.) Melton-Meaux painted Omar and the rest of the Squad as too divisive in Congress. He claimed Omar was obsessed with their own celebrity, though one could argue Omar’s critics were more inclined to make her the headline than Omar herself.
Anyway, Melton-Meaux’s argument seems to have failed spectacularly: as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, Omar had a fifteen point lead over him.
Omar is the third and final member of the Squad to win her primary this season. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez easily beat primary challenger Michelle Caruso-Cabrera in New York, and Rashida Tlaib bested challenger Brenda Jones in a slightly more contentions race in Michigan. Fourth member Ayanna Pressley has no opponent in her primary election in September, so the original band’s sticking together.
They have some new members: Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist in Missouri, unseated longtime U.S. Rep William Lacy Clay earlier this month. And in New York, former middle school principal Jamaal Bowman ousted Rep. Elliot Engel, an Establishment Dem fixture. Once again, the Squad is here to stay.