First-term U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar won the DFL endorsement Sunday to run in the Aug. 11 primary election for a Minneapolis-based congressional seat that has been in Democrats' hands since 1963.
The party endorsement sets up a primary race with Antone Melton-Meaux, an attorney-mediator and political newcomer whose campaign has been based on a series of critiques of Omar's stormy first 16-months in Congress.
Both Omar and Melton-Meaux are running as progressive Democrats and champions of immigrant rights.
Congressional incumbents rarely lose party backing for endorsement, and Melton-Meaux earlier committed to running in the DFL primary in August in the event he fails to get the endorsement.
DFLers in northeastern Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District also voted to endorse health care advocate Quinn Nystrom to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber in November.
