Kahn debates challengers Noor, Omar ahead of primaries

DFL state Rep. Phyllis Kahn again faces a tough primary challenge for her seat in the Minnesota House. In office since 1973, she's one of the state's longest-serving lawmakers.

But opponents Mohamud Noor and Ilhan Omar each say they can do a better job representing the thousands of Somali-Americans and University of Minnesota students who live in the central Minneapolis district.

If either Omar or Noor is elected, she or he would be the first Somali-American in the Minnesota Legislature.

Omar and Noor each told a packed auditorium at a debate Monday night at the University of Minnesota they'd be a strong advocate for a community that's facing high rates of poverty and unemployment.

Kahn said clearly she could not be a symbol of that community, but knows her district well.

"I have done in my legislative career, some very good things for the Somali community, including in this last tumultuous session, of the $35 million for racial disparities. I specifically targeted $1 million of that to go specifically for the Somali community," she said.

From criminal sentencing to expanding renewable energy, a $15-an-hour minimum wage and even Sunday liquor sales, there was little debate at all Monday night. The three DFLers largely agreed on these and other issues.

They decried the recent police killings of Jamar Clark and Philando Castile and called for an overhaul of law enforcement training.

Omar, a community organizer, said independent prosecutors should investigate such incidents. And she wants major changes to laws on traffic stops.

"One solution is to ban police officers from pulling people over for a broken tail light, for having an object hanging out of their windows," Omar said. "We know that it's not productive and that needs to completely be banned."

Omar, Kahn and Noor also called for a big boost in higher education spending, saying college debt is too heavy a burden on recent graduates.

The candidates all say they support Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's proposal for tuition-free education for in-state students at public colleges and universities whose families make $125,000 or less per year.

Noor, a former Minneapolis school board member, said he is still paying down high-interest loans. He said he knows first-hand what many U students in the district are facing.

"If I can go buy a car for zero percent. If I can buy a home for less than 3 percent or 4 percent, why should I be paying 7 percent for education. Isn't that not a burden to our society?" Noor asked.

The comity of Monday night's debate belies the intense competition for the Minnesota House District 60B seat.

In 2014 a scuffle broke out at a DFL precinct caucus after a disagreement between supporters of Kahn and Noor boiled over. Omar, then a DFL party officer and a supporter of Noor, said she suffered a concussion after being hit in the face.

This year, none of the three earned enough votes in six hours of balloting at the district DFL nominating convention to get the party's official endorsement.

In a primary election next week voters will decide which of the candidates will be on the November ballot.