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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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House Democrat Ilhan Omar has pulled off her biggest electoral win since 2018 in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district less than a month after her Washington, D.C., home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents on October 12.
With 99 percent of the 344,118 votes cast counted Omar led Republican challenger John Nagel with 76.5 percent of the vote against his 16.2 percent on Wednesday morning.
The result will be seen as a strong public endorsement by Omar following the federal raid that came against the backdrop of unproven allegations that Omar or her late father lied on immigration documents, either when they arrived in the United States from Somalia as refugees or while obtaining her citizenship. Omar has consistently denied any wrongdoing and her attorney described the federal investigation as "politically motivated."
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Newsweek contacted Omar’s press office for comment on Wednesday by email outside of regular office hours.
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Tuesday’s Result
As of 7:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday Omar had 263,166 votes, 76.5 percent of the total, against 55,805 for Nagel, or 16.2 percent of the total. Another 24,215 votes, or seven percent of the total, went to independent candidate DeVelle Jackson. With more than 99 percent of the votes counted it is mathematically impossible for Omar to lose and The Associated Press called Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in her favor.
This is a slight improvement on 2024 when Omar beat Republican challenger Dalia al-Aqidi by 74.4 percent of the vote against her 24.6 percent of the vote.
In 2022 Omar beat her Republican opponent by 74.3 percent against 24.5 percent while in 2020 she won by 64.3 percent of the vote to 25.8 percent, though that year she also faced the Legal Marijuana Now Party, which got 9.5 percent.
Omar’s 2026 result is the best she has achieved since 2018, her first House election campaign, in which she gained 78 percent of the vote.
Responding to her victory on X, Omar posted: "Thank you, Minnesota! I’m incredibly honored to continue to represent you in the People’s House with a resounding mandate. We will not allow Trump to silence us."
The result came against the backdrop of a "Blue Wave" that saw Democrats flip both the Senate and House, giving them the power to significantly restrict President Trump’s freedom of action during the final two years of his second term.
Omar Home Raided
Omar’s Washington, D.C., home was raided on October 12 as part of a federal criminal investigation. According to The New York Times, which cited people familiar with the document, the warrant said several potential immigration offenses were being investigated including allegations of providing false statements, fraud in immigration paperwork and a general conspiracy charge. Newsweek has not independently reviewed the warrant.
In a statement provided to Newsweek following the raid, a Department of Justice spokesperson said: "Today in the Washington D.C. area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation."
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Omar responded to the raid on X commenting: "Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For 10 years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced."
Jacklyn Rogers, Omar’s communications director, described the raid as an "outrageous" abuse of power when contacted by Newsweek insisting: "The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong."
When asked about the raid President Donald Trump said: "Well, I understand they’re looking at her very carefully. I’ve always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me. I think she’s a terrible person. She’s just a complainer—she comes from a country that is a non-country."
Why Is Omar Being Investigated?
In September Homeland Security Secretary Mark Mullin said federal authorities were examining Omar's immigration status, including a longstanding claim that she married her brother to help gain access to the United States. Omar has consistently denied this allegation, which has not been substantiated.
Mullin said: "There may be more to this, the whole family migrated and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with."
Vice President JD Vance said earlier this year that the Department of Justice was investigating Omar over alleged immigration fraud. The remarks were made during the "Feeding Our Future" scandal, in which a Minnesota based non-profit of that name was accused of lying about providing meals to schoolchildren to secure $250 million in federal reimbursements. Dozens of people, predominantly Somali-Americans, were charged and in May 2026 the alleged ringleader Aimee Bock was sentenced to 500 months in prison.
Omar consistently denied any knowledge of the scheme, previously telling Newsweek: "Any claim I had knowledge of this scheme is flat-out false.
"As I stated from the beginning stealing millions of dollars under the guise of feeding hungry children to bankroll lavish lifestyles and extravagant expenses is reprehensible."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matt Cannon and Tony Phillips.
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