RELEASE: We Must Work Together to Defeat

Ilhan Omar in November

Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District GOP-endorsed candidate, Dalia Al-Aqidi, released the following statement following the results of the Democrat primary election:

Minneapolis, MN - Despite the intense efforts of former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels, Ilhan Omar prevailed in the Democrat primary in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. The ballot is now set for the November 5th general election with Ilhan Omar as my opponent.

Don Samuels waged an honorable campaign supported by so many grassroots activists in Minnesota. I can’t help but be impressed by the legions of loyal Samuels volunteers, the mobilization of the Jewish community that had enough of Omar’s promotion of antisemitism, and the crossover votes of many Republicans who likewise saw this primary as an opportunity. There can be no doubt that so many people on both sides of the political aisle agree that removing Ilhan Omar from office is imperative.

But that’s not all that we agree on. I believe that the Democrats and independents who voted for Samuels also want to lower inflation and the cost of living, they want safer streets, and they want to improve our education system so that our children can better compete for the job market of tomorrow with valuable and employable skills they can use.

To the Jewish community I say that I feel your pain. I have fought against Middle East tyranny for my entire life. I was born in Baghdad and I fled Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. I stood with the Jewish people before and after the horrific October 7th massacres in Israel. I was moved to visit Israel just two weeks after the terrorist invasion to meet with families who narrowly survived, with Israeli leaders, and to see the devastation first hand and bear witness so that it could not be effectively denied. I wanted to share with Israelis and the Jewish community the solidarity of our district at a time when Ilhan Omar was pouring salt on open wounds. I know that Ilhan does not represent our values.

I protested the Minneapolis City Council’s lopsided resolution in January that recast Hamas as the victim and treated Israel as the aggressor. I attended the Senate hearing in June on the rising scourge of antisemitism at the University of Minnesota. I recoiled in shock at the DFL’s successful efforts to water down the definition of antisemitism and remove support and recognition of Israel’s right to exist from the Party platform at their State Convention. I know that the Democrat Party in Minnesota increasingly does not represent your values and that the divide continues to grow.

My message to all is now is not the time to despair. It is time to come together.

I am living proof that the Minnesota Republican Party is a party of diversity and inclusion. We believe as Martin Luther King Jr. did: We should not be judged by the color of our skin but the content of our character. I am the endorsed Republican candidate not because I am a female, a Muslim, or an immigrant, even though all of that is true. I was endorsed because I am an American first and foremost who loves this country. Because I vowed to give back, not by importing the failed ideologies from which I fled, but by embracing what makes the United States a unique beacon of hope and freedom to other nations.

Despite your despair of having come up short tonight, there is still a path to unseat Ilhan Omar. I was always skeptical of the theory that the Democrat divide was enough to unseat Ilhan during a mid-August primary, even with the crossover votes of many Republicans and the addition of most independents. Ilhan was surprised by her slim 2% victory over Samuels in the 2022 mid-term primary. She did not make the same mistakes this time around.

I continue to believe the clearest path to victory during a presidential year is in the November general election, relying on the votes of all Fifth District Republicans, with the addition of independents and the coalition of voters who supported Don Samuels.

Tonight, I humbly ask Don Samuels’ supporters to support my campaign, and for the volunteers who spared no effort calling and convincing Republican voters to turn out and vote for Samuels in the primary, to now call their disenchanted Democrat friends and convince them to join you in supporting my campaign.

If with your help I should win in November, you already have my pledge to work for all the people of our district and to never take your votes for granted as Ilhan always has. We will make history together. You will always have a seat at my table. And if we should come up short, the unmistakable message you will send the Democrat Party by not just skipping that section on your ballot but by crossing party lines to vote for me would be unignorable.

Ilhan Omar remains vulnerable and secure in her belief that tonight’s results were the only votes that mattered. In the 2022 election, she underperformed every other down-ballot DFL candidate in the district by a wide margin. In 2020, she underperformed Biden in our district by the largest margin of any Democrat U.S. House candidate in the country.

Tonight, Ilhan offers no message of reconciliation for your party because she believes she will win even if you abstain from voting. You can prove to her that your vote, your voice, and your values matter. You can prevent her from doubling down on her divisive rhetoric and her destructive policies that put the residents of our district last. That will surely come if she believes that she crushed the Democrat primary rebellion tonight.

Now is the time to unite and work together to make this election about more than increasing Ilhan’s celebrity and financial status. With your support and your votes, we can finally begin to dissolve the divide that Ilhan exacerbates.

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RELEASE: We Must Work Together to Defeat

﻿Ilhan Omar in November

Ilhan Omar in November