n>Running against Ilhan Omar would have been a political suicide mission even without a virus that made traditional campaigning all but impossible. Then, on May 25, a white Minneapolis police officer choked a 46-year-old Black man named George Floyd to death on video. The atrocity that unleashed a global wave of protest and is now a synecdoche for all racism occurred in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which Omar represents. Her opponent, a 47-year-old lawyer, part-time pastor, and political neophyte named Antone Melton-Meaux must now grapple with an emotional historic moment, a telegenic political superstar, and a killer virus. And his job only keeps getting harder. Read Full Article »