Tuesday November 17, 2020
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks to the media during an Election Night watch party in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is cutting ties with her husband’s political consulting firm after winning her bid for reelection, saying she wants to ensure her supporters feel there’s no perceived issue.
Omar married her political consultant, Tim Mynett, in March, sparking scrutiny and a complaint to the Federal Election Commission by a conservative group that alleged campaign funds paid for Mynett’s personal travel. The FEC has taken no public action on that complaint, and Omar has said payments to Mynett’s firm, E Street Group, were legitimate.
In an email to her supporters on Sunday, Omar said her campaign was terminating its contract with E Street Group to “make sure that anybody who is supporting our campaign with their time or financial support feels there is no perceived issue with that support,” the Star Tribune reported.She also wrote: “Every dollar that was spent went to a team of more than twenty that were helping us fight back against attacks and organize on the ground and online in a COVID-19 world. And Tim — beyond his salary at the firm — received no profit whatsoever from the consulting relationship the firm provided.”
A campaign spokesman told The Associated Press on Monday that Omar commits to not using Mynett’s firm in future campaigns.
Omar won reelection to a second term, easily defeating Republican challenger Lacy Johnson in the heavily Democratic 5th District. She also defeated primary challenger Anton Melton-Meaux, whose well-funded race highlighted controversies involving Omar, including her connection to Mynett.
Omar told supporters, “you deserve to be a part of a movement that you can rely on, believe in, and know that it is holding itself to the highest possible standards.”
Omar’s campaign was big business for E Street Group. The campaign reported paying the firm more than $1.1 million for advertising and consulting in the third quarter of this year alone.