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Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, normally a safe Democratic seat, is shaping up to be the most expensive election in the state this year.

First-term U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s national profile has helped inspire a flood of donations to both her challenger in August’s DFL primary, Antone Melton-Meaux, as well as the most prominent Republican running for the seat, Lacy Johnson.

Melton-Meaux raised an eye-popping $3.2 million from April to June, several times more than Omar’s $471,000. He has twice as much money in the bank as Omar for the final month before the August primary.

His support includes $487,000 bundled by two pro-Israel political organizations, NORPAC and the Pro-Israel America PAC. Omar has 

come under fire for comments critical of Israel that critics said were anti-Semitic

The 5th District is overwhelmingly Democratic, and the winner of the August DFL primary is likely to win the November general election comfortably. But even the endorsed Republican candidate, Lacy Johnson, took in more than $2 million in the second quarter of the year. 

Most of Johnson’s fundraising came from small donations, including a lot solicited through more than $700,000 in spending on direct mail. 

Omar, meanwhile, also raised the bulk of her $471,000 in fundraising from small donations. 

The $5.7 million in combined donations for Omar, Melton-Meaux and Johnson is nearly twice as much as the major candidates raised for an ostensibly more important race: Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seat. DFL Sen. Tina Smith took in $2.2 million in the second quarter, while Republican frontrunner Jason Lewis raised $833,000. Smith has $5.8 million in the bank to Lewis’s $927,000.

In other news from Wednesday’s campaign finance reports:

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to account for money raised by candidates Tina Smith, Angie Craig, Dean Phillips, Jim Hagedorn, Dan Feehan and Michelle Fischbach through joint fundraising accounts, which the Federal Election Commission classifies differently than normal contributions. Accounting for this fundraising means Phillips slightly outraised challenger Kendall Qualls, rather than the reverse as originally reported.

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Election 2020

David H. Montgomery

Author

As the August primary election approaches, fundraising numbers for the second quarter of the year show the race for Congress in the district that includes Minneapolis shaping up as the most expensive contest of the year.

Defund police march in northeast Minneapolis

Challenger Melton-Meaux outraises Rep. Ilhan Omar

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