Mill City Times Endorses Don Samuels for Congress

When the voters of the 5th Congressional District first elected Ilhan Omar, Donald Trump was well into his presidential term. His very first executive action was the Muslim Ban, and so the election of Ilhan Omar – a Somali refugee and one-term state representative – was a meaningful assertion of our values. Three and a half years later, and well into the first half of Joe Biden’s presidency, it’s time to reassert our values once again. This is why we are endorsing former north Minneapolis Council Member Don Samuels to serve as our next US Representative. 
 
With Democrats controlling the House by a narrow margin, and the Senate by an even more narrow margin, we find it distressing that Ilhan Omar votes so often with her most extreme counterparts in the Republican party and against President Biden’s agenda. From voting against the President's Infrastructure Bill, to voting against crucial bills to support Ukraine in its battle against Russian invasion, to voting against securing our Capital after the Jan 6 Insurrection, Ilhan Omar is increasingly out of step with other Democrats and the majority of her constituents. With democracy imperiled abroad and at home, we need Congressional representation that will collaborate with other Democrats to enact legislation in an increasingly extremist political environment.
 
In contrast to the approach taken by our current representative, Don Samuels led our city through a polarizing debate about whether we would eliminate our police department by arguing instead for a “Both / And” approach. We need to transform policing, he argued, but we also need police. If we are to diffuse the dangerous political moment nationally, we need Samuels’ “Both / And” approach to leadership.
 
Don Samuels has a credible record we trust to provide innovative, practical solutions that will bridge divides. Samuels came to this country as an immigrant from Jamaica with a scholarship to Pratt Institute of Design and very little else. He grew up in an impoverished neighborhood, and made a commitment to continue to live in an impoverished community wherever he found himself. Because of this, Samuels does not speak for  communities he has little connection to: his understanding of the issues remains nuanced and authentic, and he knows what can make a dramatic difference versus what is merely drama.
 
Samuels began his career as a toy inventor, then led the research and design departments of some of the biggest toy companies in the market, and finally he opened his own small design firm. In a district where 80% of us broadly agree, we should select our representative based on who will deliver results. When the City of Minneapolis received $118 million in federal dollars during the 2008 recession, Samuels worked with his city council colleagues to bring $100 million to North Minneapolis. More recently, inspired by the tragic killing of Philando Castille (and as an offshoot of his micro-grant non-profit) he launched Lights On, a first-of-its-kind program that transforms a broken tail light traffic stop into an opportunity for police officers to render aid in the form of vouchers. In contrast, our current Congressional representative has had little success moving bills into law, and can only claim bringing in $17 million in earmark money already set aside for our district, while voting against several hundred million that will come via the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
 
As one of the safest Democratic seats in the country, August 9th is the primary vote that will – in the absence of some extraordinary intervening event – decide the entire election for Minnesota’s 5th District Congressional seat. We encourage our readers to vote for Don Samuels and ensure it is his name that appears on the November ballot. Samuels is someone who will think beyond the easy platitudes, who will work hard to bring federal resources to our region and appeal to much needed voters in neighboring districts, and who will negotiate across differences to heal our fractured nation. A vote for Don Samuels is not only a vote for better representation, it is a vote for less divisive and more productive politics.