Omar 2.0? Minnesota’s Newest Dem Has A Daycare Fraud Connection

A Somali daycare center owner connected to a major fraud settlement won a seat in the Minnesota Legislature Tuesday night. 

Democrat Abdi Daisane will be the first Somali-born lawmaker to represent the St. Cloud area in the state legislature after defeating an incumbent Republican as Democrats swept the 2026 midterms. He follows in the footsteps of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who became the first Somali-born lawmaker in the Minnesota legislature in 2017 before she went on to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019.

In his second bid for public office, Daisane, an immigrant who spent years living in a Kenyan refugee camp, won the seat with about 51% of the vote and reportedly delivered his victory speech in Somali. 

“It feels good to lose and then come back and win,” Daisane told St. Cloud LIVE. “Persistence pays off; we’ve knocked on more doors, talked to more people and in return have related to more people. … People want change.”

Omar also delivered part of her victory speech in Somali Tuesday night after securing a fifth consecutive term in Congress, defeating Republican challenger John Nagel by a wide margin, 76.5% to 16.2%, The Daily Wire reported.

Omar, whose real name is “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi,” according to the Department of Justice, cruised to victory despite increasing suspicions that she committed immigration fraud by marrying her brother. She has denied wrongdoing. But her re-election, alongside Daisane’s upset win, underscores the growing political influence of Minnesota’s Somali community.

After his victory, Daisane’s professional background is drawing renewed scrutiny, even as voters largely seemed to look past the massive fraud scandal that embroiled Democrat Governor Tim Walz’s administration. Fox News reported that Daisane is the CEO of Blooming Kids Child Care Center in St. Cloud, which has reportedly received $7.29 million through Minnesota’s state-run Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) since 2018. CCAP is a state-run program that subsidizes childcare for low-income families.

The childcare center has also received $598,251.62 through the federally funded Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) since 2020, according to Fox News. Its CACFP sponsor was Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit that agreed to pay an $18.5 million civil settlement over fraud allegations. Blooming Kids Child Care Center was not named in the settlement, according to Alpha News.

A September 24 press release from the Minnesota Attorney General’s office said Partners in Nutrition “knowingly defrauded the State of Minnesota out of millions of dollars in federal child nutrition funds during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, in violation of the Minnesota False Claims Act.”

“Claiming millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded reimbursements for astronomical amounts of meals that were never delivered to Minnesota’s children is despicable,” Democrat Attorney General Ellison said. “Today’s settlement holds PIN accountable for defrauding the State and recoups $18 million in taxpayer funds, but it cannot adequately address the erosion of Minnesotans’ trust in government programs that bad actors like PIN and Feeding Our Future have caused.” 

The daycare center also has a record of licensing violations. Among them are hazardous objects accessible to children, poor facility hygiene, and inadequate staffing, according to Alpha News. The outlet previously spoke with a former employee who said they never saw children at the facility. 

Conservatives argued Daisane’s ability to flip a red seat blue is a sign of where the state is headed. 

“We are a lost state,” Red Ax Strategies President Matt Brodsky posted on X. “We should cede it to Canada.”

He spoke Somali for his victory speech https://t.co/9xxZyj3Wnd

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 4, 2026

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