Ilhan Omar gets landslide second-term victory

The Somali American congresswoman was re-elected by a wide margin in the heavily populated Democratic 5th district of Minnesota after defeating her Republican challenger, African American businessman Lacy Johnson; by 64.6 per cent of the vote to 25.9 percent.

Ilhan Omar was one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, and she’s been a frequent target of President Trump who has riled his base—and charges of xenophobia—by questioning her patriotism during swings through the North Star State.

She is the first Somali American member of the US Congress and one of the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress in 2018. She is a member of the so-called ‘Squad’ of four freshman progressive Democratic congresswomen that includes Rashida Tlaib from Detroit, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York City and Ayanna Pressley from Boston.

Ilhan has built a national profile that started when the one-time refugee from Somalia was elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 2016. Her aggressive advocacy on liberal issues, anti-Israel comments, and eagerness to take on the US President Donald Trump have made her even more prominent.

She has frequently become a target of criticism and defamatory comments from the president and other Republicans. Last month, Omar hit back at Trump, calling him ‘racist’ after he disparaged her during a campaign rally and falsely implied that she is not American.