EMILYs List Endorses Ilhan Omar in Minnesota’s 5th District

For Immediate Release
August 16, 2018 

EMILYs List Endorses Ilhan Omar in Minnesota’s 5th District

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Ilhan Omar for Congress in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“Ilhan Omar has overcome obstacles that few of us can imagine facing. When she was a young girl, Ilhan’s family escaped civil war in Somalia, spent several years in a refugee camp in Kenya, and eventually moved to Minnesota. She became a passionate progressive activist, fighting for economic opportunity and racial equality in her community. Ilhan is running for Congress to continue to fight on behalf of 5th District families and be a voice for them in Washington, D.C.

“Ilhan has already made history as the first Muslim refugee and first Somali American Muslim woman in elected office in the United States. Now, she can make history as one of the first Muslim women in Congress. We need more voices and backgrounds like Ilhan’s at the table to ensure a broader swath of our country is represented by their policymakers. EMILYs List is excited to support Ilhan’s campaign for this open seat, and we look forward to helping her make history in November.”

Ilhan Omar was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016, and has been an advocate for progressive policies such as paid parental leave and funding for public schools. She previously served as the director of policy and initiatives at Women Organizing Women, helping to empower East African women to pursue civic leadership opportunities in their communities, and has received the Rising Star Award from the DFL Women’s Hall of Fame. Ilhan lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.