Omar seeking third term in Congress

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced on Monday she’s running for reelection in the state’s 5th Congressional District.

In a post on cebook page, Omar said she’s running again because she believes “a better world is possible.”

“I still believe in a world where the working class is given what they’re owed. A world where we address the economic and income inequality issues that are holding American workers back and systematically forcing families into poverty,” she said.

Omar was sworn into office in 2019, becoming the first “African refugee to become a Member of Congress, the first woman of color to represent Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim-American women elected to Congress,” according to her webpage.

The lawmaker, known for her progressive policies, easily won reelection in 2020 and has since passed 17 bills and amendments in the U.S. House of Representatives and co-sponsored 548 bills, she said on her website.

Omar has also been a lightning rod for critics. Most recently, she was embroiled in a feud with colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert ( R-Colo.) that attracted national attention. In November, Boebert made a joke about Omar that alluded to her as a terrorist, which many criticized as Islamophobic.

Omar is a member of an unofficial group of liberal lawmakers known as “the Squad,” which includes Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

As an incumbent, the lawmaker likely faces an easy reelection in the upcoming midterms. On Monday, Omar told her constituents to “send her back,” echoing her previous campaign slogan: “Send Her Back to Congress.”

“I still believe in a world where we choose peace over war, diplomacy over violence, and the human rights of all people over the profits of the military-industrial complex,” she wrote. “A world where we put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy.”