Omar urges Democrats to focus on nonvoters over ‘disaffected Trump voters’

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) said the party should focus on winning over nonvoters rather than “disaffected Trump voters.”

“I get the urge to focus on disaffected Trump voters. Democrats pride themselves on being a big-tent party. We want to show disaffected Republicans that there’s a political home for them outside Trump’s GOP,” Omar wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Friday. “But appealing to these voters while alienating more progressive, diverse nonvoters doesn’t make sense. 

“For every moderate, suburban Republican on the fence about Trump, there are lines of cooks, homeworkers, dishwashers, cashiers and farm workers who would vote a straight Democratic ticket if they were just given a reason to do so.”

Democrats have focused energy on highlighting Republicans who have endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, including former Trump administration officials and alumni of the George W. Bush administration. 

Several of them spoke at the Democratic National Convention and groups like the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump are running pro-Biden ads. 

Both Biden and Trump have expressed an intent to win over moderate suburban voters in swing states. Omar said low-income voters are a largely untapped bloc that could benefit Democrats if they embrace left-leaning policies. 

The congresswoman noted that Trump won in 2016 “because he increased Republican turnout in the Midwest while we Democrats didn’t.”

“That’s why adopting policies and finding candidates who speak to the needs of working people isn’t just the right thing to do, it is critical for our party’s long-term success,” Omar wrote.