Omar Seeks Third Term Representing Minnesota’s 5th District

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has announced her intention to seek a third term representing Minnesota’s Fifth District.

Omar was first elected to the House in 2019 and was the first Somali American in Congress. She said in a news release Monday that she chose to run to help build a better world by addressing a host of issues including economic and income inequality and climate change.

“When I first ran for this office there was one thing I kept coming back to. Something I said to myself and to the voters over and over: I believe that a better world is possible,” she said. “I still believe that.”

Her first term generated widespread attention when she launched her 2020 re-election campaign with the slogan “Send her back to Congress!” — a riff on comments made by then-president Donald Trump that Omar and three other congresswomen of color should “go back” to their countries.

“I still believe in a world where we choose peace over war, diplomacy over bellicosity, and the human rights of all people over the profits of the military-industrial complex. A world where we put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy, oppose war and militarism and pursue accountability for human rights abuses wherever they occur,” she said in the release. “If you believe a better world is possible, join me.”

Omar has passed eight bills and amendments into law, introduced more than 100 bills and amendments and co-sponsored nearly 1,100, according to the release.