Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar is the youngest of seven children. Her mother died when she was two, and she was raised by her father and grandfather. She has three children, Isra Hirsi, Adnan Hirsi, and Ilwad Hirsi.

Omar had a religious marriage with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2001 that was not legally binding. She later eloped with Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, left Elmi, and reconciled with Hirsi. Omar legally married Hirsi in 2018, and they divorced the following year. In 2020, she married political consultant Tim Mynett, who had worked with her campaigns.

Omar's family fled Somalia's civil war in 1991, when she was eight years old. They spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before receiving asylum in the United States in 1995. The family first settled in Arlington, Virginia, where Omar and her sisters learned English by watching television programs, and moved to Minneapolis in 1997.

As a teenager, Omar interpreted for her grandfather at local political gatherings. She attended Thomas Edison High School and became interested in organizing and grassroots politics. She earned an associate's degree in 2005 and later graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in political science and international studies.

Omar worked on Minnesota's 2012 “Vote No Twice” campaigns, which opposed proposed voter identification requirements and a constitutional definition of marriage as between one woman and one man. She then worked on Andrew Johnson's successful 2013 campaign for Minneapolis City Council and became his senior policy aide in 2014.

In 2016, Omar defeated a 44-year incumbent in the Democratic primary for the Minnesota House of Representatives. Her campaign was featured in the documentary Time for Ilhan. Her election made her the first Somali American woman to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives and the first Somali American, Muslim legislator in the United States.

After Keith Ellison left Minnesota's 5th congressional district seat to run for attorney general, Omar won the open congressional seat and was sworn into the U.S. House in January 2019. Her election made her the first African refugee elected to Congress, the first woman of color to represent Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress. She was reelected in 2020, 2022, and 2024.

Omar has focused on investing in education, eliminating student debt, establishing a just immigration system, ensuring a living wage, expanding Medicare, and addressing climate change. She serves on the House Budget Committee and the House Education and Workforce Committee, including its Workforce Protections and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions subcommittees. She is also a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Medicare for All Caucus.

Omar became a target of repeated attacks from President Donald Trump, who made false statements about her views and questioned her allegiance to the United States. Trump also called her unpatriotic and urged her and other members of the congressional group known as the Squad to return to their countries of origin. Chants of “send her back” were directed at Omar at Trump campaign events.

During a town hall in January 2026, a man sprayed Omar with vinegar while her district was being targeted by immigration enforcement actions. She was unharmed, and the man was arrested and charged with assault.