Omar Among Winners in Tuesday US Primaries
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2020 1:36 amU.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar won her Democratic primary election Tuesday, defeating a well-funded challenger.
Voters in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district backed Omar with about 58% of the vote compared to 39% for Antone Melton-Meaux.
Omar represents a solidly liberal district and is likely to win another term in Congress in the November general election.
In another Minnesota race, Republican Michelle Fischbach won her party primary and will face incumbent Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson in a race Republicans are targeting as a chance to flip a Democratic seat to their party. Voters in the district supported President Donald Trump by a 30-point margin in 2016, but Peterson is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress and was first elected to represent the district in 1990.
In this Nov. 22, 2019 photo, GOP congressional candidate Michelle Fischbach discusses Minnesota's 7th District race at a coffee shop in Minneapolis.
In the southern state of Georgia, voters in the Republican primary for the 14th congressional district chose Marjorie Taylor Greene, a gun rights activist and staunch supporter of QAnon, a far-right group that believes a “deep state” of people are working to undermine Trump’s presidency. She defeated John Cowan, who had the support of several high-profile Republicans, with 57% of the vote to Cowan’s 43%.
Greene is almost assured of winning election to Congress from the heavily Republican district.
Voters also cast primary ballots in the state of Wisconsin on Tuesday. In the 3rd congressional district, incumbent Democratic Congressman Ron Kind easily won his primary.
In the district’s Republican race, former Navy Seal Derrick Van Orden defeated public relations professional Jessi Ebben. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker have endorsed Van Orden.
The general election is November 3, with the president, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for election. Democrats currently hold the majority in the House, while Republicans are the majority in the Senate.