The past 10 weeks have been a whirl for Ilhan Omar, who suddenly went from being famous for becoming the country’s first Somali-American state legislator to being a likely shoo-in for the first Somali-American congresswoman.
“It’s been a really interesting rush,” Omar said in an interview with The Associated Press. She and her rivals had to mount instant campaigns when U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison suddenly decided to leave Minneapolis-area seat to run for state attorney general. She quickly organized a team to nail down the Democratic endorsement to succeed him, then won a six-way primary Tuesday with a strong 48 percent plurality. “You get what you organize for,” she said.
Only Democrats have represented the 5th District since 1963, so Omar is expected to easily win the general election. Still, she said she’s not taking it for granted, and want to generate heavy turnout in the district to help boost statewide Democratic candidates.