CD (Portland) — US Representative Ilhan Omar narrowly fended off a Democratic Party primary challenger whose campaign was bankrolled in part by a Republican Party operative, corporate lobbyists, and prominent Minnesota businessmen.

Omar, a stalwart progressive who has been a frequent target of racist rightwing attacks and death threats, prevailed by fewer than 3,000 votes, a far closer contest than her 2020 primary. Her opponent, former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, conceded the race.

“Tonight’s victory is a testament to how much our district believes in the collective values we are fighting for and how much they’re willing to do to help us overcome defeat,” Omar, the whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, stated after the race was called in her favor.

Omar, who has also repeatedly been thrown under the bus by the Democratic Party establishment, overcame a torrent of outside opposition spending, including from a newly-created political action committee financed by donations from Kelly Doran—a Minnesota businessman and commercial real estate developer with a history of donating to Republicans—and Vance Opperman, the head of a private investment firm.

The Drain the DC Swamp Political Action Committee, a far-right outfit aligned with former President Donald Trump and those in the Republican Party whose refuse to accept their loss of the 2020 presidential election, also spent against Omar in the Minnesota primary.

The Intercept reported earlier this year that Samuels, who was previously elected to the Minneapolis School Board with the support of rightwing school privatization advocates, attended a fundraiser in April which was headlined by developers, lobbyists, and business leaders with conservative affiliations.

Jeremy Slevin, Omar’s senior communications director, noted on Twitter earlier this month that close to 40% of Samuel’s campaign donations “were more than US$200 in the first quarter of 2022.”

“This is extraordinarily high,” Slevin asserted. “By comparison, 99% of Ilhan Omar’s donors were less than US$200 in the same time period.”

In a statement late Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont noted that “llhan Omar has faced some of the ugliest attacks of any elected official and had hundreds of thousands of dollars spent against her… Despite this, she won her primary once again… Like Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, these progressive champions have shown that they persevere and deliver for their constituents despite the well-funded, nasty attacks upon them.”

Originally published at Common Dreams. Republished by cc by-sa 3.0. Minor edits for style and content.

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