Melton-Meaux takes big fundraising lead over Omar in 5th District

Antone Melton-Meaux is a mediation lawyer and political newcomer running for Congress in Minnesota’s 5th District. But you wouldn’t know he’s a newcomer by his fundraising figures from the quarter ending June 30.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Melton-Meaux raised $3.2 million in the quarter from April through June and still has $2 million cash on hand. Incumbent Congresswoman Ilhan Omar raised just under $472,000 in the quarter and has $1.1 million cash on hand.

"Congresswoman Omar is someone I supported in 2018," Melton-Meaux told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on Friday. "I was hopeful she would use her platform to do good work for the district, but the reality is she has failed to show up for voters and failed to show up for votes.

"She has one of the worst voter attendance records in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2019 alone she missed 40 votes. That’s 40 times … the people of this district have been silenced. That is union workers, small business owners, immigrants, black and brown people, and we can’t have people disenfranchising our district."

The fundraising figures certainly got the attention of Omar and her campaign. The day after the figures were released, Omar touted a new endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. She also released internal poll results that show her with a big lead over Melton-Meaux in the 5th District Democratic primary.

Minnesota’s primary elections will be held August 11.

You can see the entire interview with Melton-Meaux on "At Issue with Tom Hauser" 10 a.m. Sunday. We have also invited Congresswoman Omar to appear on the show before the primary.