Democrat · Minnesota's 5th District · 2026
Ilhan Omar
Omar fled Somalia's civil war as a child and spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before her family reached the United States.
Biography
Ilhan Omar's early political work included interpreting for her grandfather at local Democratic caucuses as a teenager.1 Her family had fled Somalia's civil war and spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before resettling in the United States.2 She moved to Minneapolis with her family in 1997.2
Omar graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011.3 Her career has included community education at the University of Minnesota, a Humphrey Policy Fellowship and work as a senior policy aide for the Minneapolis City Council.2 She also worked on policy initiatives at Women Organizing Women, which helps East African women take civic leadership roles.4
She served in the Minnesota House from 2017 to 2019 before beginning congressional service in January 2019.3 She was one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota there.2 Her current assignments include the House Budget Committee and the Education and Workforce Committee.2
Omar supports Medicare for All, including dental, vision and reproductive care without patient charges, and wants Medicare to negotiate all prescription drug prices.5 Her housing agenda calls for more public housing, full funding for Section 8 vouchers and a national renters' bill of rights covering eviction protections and the right to organize.6
Record and controversies
State campaign finance order
In June 2019, Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board ordered Omar to reimburse her state campaign committee $3,469.23 for impermissible expenses and personally pay a $500 civil penalty.7 The ruling addressed accounting expenses and travel that the board found were not permissible campaign spending.7 Omar said she would comply and was glad the process had reached a resolution.8 The order concluded the board's investigation.7 Subsequent payment was not independently verified here.
Committee removal
On February 2, 2023, the House voted 218 to 211 to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.9 Republicans called her past remarks antisemitic; she had apologized in 2019 for comments about Jewish money in American politics.9 Omar said she was being targeted and that her critical foreign policy voice should not be silenced, pointing to suspicion directed at immigrants and Muslims.9
Immigration investigation
In October 2026, federal authorities searched Omar's Washington home while investigating potential fraud in her family's immigration paperwork, AP reported, citing a person briefed on the case.10 Her office denied wrongdoing and called the search an abuse of federal law enforcement against Trump's political opponents.11 The Justice Department said the search timing had nothing to do with the November election.12 Prosecutors had not made charging decisions and opposed unsealing the warrant materials, the Post reported October 28.13 An adjudicated violation was not verified in this review.