Rep. Ilhan Omar launches re-election campaign

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar announced Monday she will seek a third term to represent Minnesota.

Omar said in a news release that she chose to run to help build a better world by addressing a host of issues including economic and income inequality and climate change. She was first elected to office in 2019 and was the first Somali American in Congress.

"When I first ran for this office there was one thing I kept coming back to. Something I said to myself and to the voters over and over: I believe that a better world is possible," she said in the release. "I still believe that."

Omar represents the state's Fifth District. In her years in Congress, Omar has passed eight bills and amendments into law, introduced more than 100 bills and amendments and co-sponsored nearly 1,100, according to the release.

Her first term generated headlines around the world and she launched her 2020 re-election campaign with the slogan "Send her back to Congress!" — a riff on comments made by then-president Donald Trump that Omar and three other congresswomen of color should "go back" to their countries.

"I still believe in a world where we choose peace over war, diplomacy over bellicosity, and the human rights of all people over the profits of the military-industrial complex. A world where we put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy, oppose war and militarism and pursue accountability for human rights abuses wherever they occur," she said in the release. "If you believe a better world is possible, join me."

Calls to Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann were not immediately returned on Monday.