(Reuters) Ilhan Omar fled civil war in Somalia and spent four years of her childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya. Now she is poised to win a seat in the U.S. Congress, taking on a president who has tried to prevent people like her from coming to America.
The Democratic state legislator is heavily favored to win her Minneapolis-based district over Republican Jennifer Zielinski in the Nov. 6 congressional elections, which could make her one of the first Muslim women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Omar, a 36-year-old naturalized American citizen, said she is running for office to make sure fewer people have to struggle with the daily necessities of life, something she was shocked to find when she arrived in the United States as a refugee with her family at age 12.
