Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982)Rep. Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN) She is the member of the U.S House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th district since January 3, 2019. Omar is also member of "The Squad".

 Early life 
Ilhan Abdullahi Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 4, 1982. She was the youngest of seven siblings. Her mother died when Omar was two. She was raised by her father and grandfather, who were moderate Sunni Muslims.

Omar and her family left Somalia to escape the Somali Civil War and spent four years in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya.

Omar's family was given asylum and arrived in New York in 1995. They lived for a time in Arlington, Virginia, before moving to Minneapolis.

Political career
In 2016, she was elected a Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She is the first Somali-American person elected to office in the United States. She was the Director of Policy and Initiatives of the Women Organizing Women Network.

Omar was the Democratic Farmer Labor nominee for U.S. Representative in Minnesota's 5th congressional district, having won the primary on August 14, 2018. Omar won the election in November 2018, becoming first Muslim-American woman to be elected to congress, alongside Rashida Tlaib.

Omar is a member of "The Squad" along with Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley. In 2020, Omar endorsed Bernie Sanders for President.

Other activities
In 2018, Omar was featured in the music video for Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" featuring Cardi B.

On October 19, 2020, Omar joined Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Disguised Toast, Jacksepticeye, and Pokimane in a Twitch stream playing the popular game Among Us, encouraging streamers to vote in the 2020 election. This collaboration garnered almost half a million views.

Notes

References

Other websites

 Official House of Representatives site
 Ilhan Omar for Congress


 Ilhan Omar at BlackPast.org

Category:1981 births
Category:Living people
Category:American Muslims
Category:Somali politicians
Category:United States representatives from Minnesota
Category:Members of the Minnesota Legislature
Category:Politicians from Minneapolis
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians
Category:African-American politicians