Who is Ilhan Omar? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Ilhan Abdullahi Omar

Age: 41 Years, 41 Year Old Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Tim Mynett (m. 2020), Ahmed Hirsi (m. 2018–2019), Ahmed Nur Said Elmi (m. 2009–2017)

father: Nur Omar Mohamed

mother: Fadhuma Abukar Haji Hussein

siblings: Sahra Noor

children: Adnan Hirsi, Ilwad Hirsi, Isra Hirsi

Born Country: Somalia

African American Women Political Leaders

Ancestry: Somali American

Notable Alumni: North Dakota State University

City: Mogadishu, Somalia

More Facts

education: North Dakota State University

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Childhood & Early Life

Youngest of seven siblings, Ilhan Abdullahi Omar was born on October 4, 1982, in Mogadishu, Somalia, to teacher-trainer Nur Omar Mohamed. She was raised in Baidoa by her father and grandfather after her mother, Fadhuma Abukar Haji Hussein, a Benadiri, died when she was two.

When she was eight, her family fled from civil war-torn Somalia and took refuge in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya for four years before arriving in New York in 1992. They secured asylum in the U.S. in 1995 and eventually settled in Minneapolis, where her father drove taxi for some time before getting a job at the post office.

Ilhan Omar, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000, studied at Edison High School, where she volunteered as a student organizer. She earned her bachelor's degrees in political science and international studies from North Dakota State University in 2011 and was a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

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Early Career

Ilhan Omar became a community nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota in 2006, and worked in the Greater Minneapolis–Saint Paul area until 2009. She later served as a child nutrition outreach coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education in 2012-13.

Her initial political exposure happened as the campaign manager for Kari Dziedzic's reelection for the Minnesota State Senate in 2012. The next year, she managed Andrew Johnson's successful campaign for Minneapolis City Council, and then served as his Senior Policy Aide in 2013-15.

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Political Career

In 2016, Ilhan Omar ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives from the DFL Party in District 60B, where she lived for the past two decades. In August 2016, she won the DFL primary, and her Republican opponent Abdimalik Askar withdrew his candidacy, paving the way for her to become the first Somali American legislator in the United States.

After assuming office on January 3, 2017, she also served as an Assistant Minority Leader for the DFL caucus. She has been credited for authoring and co-authoring at least 266 bills during the 2017-2018 legislative session.

Ilhan Omar ran for the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th congressional district from DFL party in 2018, and defeated Republican opponent Jennifer Zielinski in the November 6, 2018 general election securing 78% votes. She took oath on a copy of the Quran owned by her grandfather and became the first woman to wear a hijab on the House floor after the ban on head coverings was modified.

Threats & Harassments

Ilhan Omar was one of the targets of "long time White Nationalist" and United States Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher Hasson, who was arrested by the FBI in February 2019. That month, the FBI also investigated "Assassinate Ilhan Omar" graffiti in a Rogers, Minnesota Holiday gas station restroom, following which Patrick Carlineo Jr. was arrested for threatening to assault and violently murder her.

In March 2019, a poster falsely connecting Omar to the 9/11 terrorist attacks was displayed at a Republican Party event at the West Virginia Capitol, which the GOP disavowed subsequently. In April 2019, part of her speech at a Council on American–Islamic Relations meeting, "some people did something", was highlighted by 'The New York Post' and was used out-of-context by President Donald Trump, creating controversy.

Family & Personal Life

In 2002, Ilhan Omar became engaged to Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, with whom she had a faith-based marriage, as her application for a marriage license was not finalized. They had two children together, but separated in 2008.

Her second marriage was to British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009, but the two ended up having a faith-based divorce in 2011. Later that year, she got back together with her first husband Hirsi, and welcomed their third child the following year.

Omar and Hirsi were finally legally married in 2018, one year after she obtained a legal divorce from Elmi. One of her daughters, Isra Hirsi, is a principal organizer of the 'school strike for climate' movement.

Trivia

Ilhan Omar's grandfather, Abukar, was the director of Somalia's National Marine Transport.

Ilhan Omar Biography