The Minneapolis Star Tribune endorsed Rep. Ilhan Omar’s, D-Minn., primary opponent ahead of next week’s election — which is just the latest sign that Omar’s seat might not be hers much longer.
The editorial board called into question Omar’s intentions, arguing that she seems more interested in leading a leftist movement than in serving her constituents.
Antone Melton-Meaux, on the other hand, is invested in his community first and foremost, the paper said.
“After careful consideration and interviews with both, the Star Tribune Editorial Board recommends Melton-Meaux, a first-time candidate with strong progressive values that align well with the district, as well as consensus-building skills honed as a professional mediator,” the editorial stated.
Unlike Omar, Melton-Meaux will help “resolve disputes to move forward,” the editorialists wrote.
“Omar’s 2018 victory launched her into the national spotlight as the first Muslim woman and first refugee elected to Congress,” the editorial board wrote. “But her time has been marred by missteps, including remarks on Israel widely regarded as anti-Semitic, an outsized number of missed votes, and campaign-finance issues.”
When confronted about these failures, Omar “took little responsibility for her rocky start, instead largely blaming her critics and saying her failing was perhaps in not realizing what a ‘special unicorn’ she would be in Congress,” the editorial said.
Melton-Meaux has made similar accusations, arguing that Omar has lost the trust of her Jewish constituents due to the many anti-Semitic statements she’s made over the past year.
He has also attacked her status as a member of “the Squad,” a congressional group made up of Congress’s most liberal Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
Melton-Meaux’s criticism seems to have resonated, because he’s raised nearly triple what Omar’s campaign has received.
He raised $3.2 million between April and the end of June and has $2 million cash-on-hand ahead of the Aug. 11 primary, according to the Associated Press. In contrast, Omar received $471,624 during the same period and has $1 million in cash. Her campaign has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to her husband’s consulting firm.
