Mike Conway (left) listens to Abdi Daisane (right) respond to a question from members of the public attending a debate among candidates for the House of Representatives in District 14, hosted by the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 23. Sarah d’Uscio / For St. Cloud LIVE
ST. CLOUD, Minn (AX) — Somali American Democratic politician Abdi Daisane scored a major victory in Tuesday’s Minnesota House of Representatives election, defeating his Republican opponent, Mike Conway, and adding a seat in the St. Cloud area that had previously been held by Republicans to his party’s ranks.
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Unofficial preliminary results, with all 18 polling locations reporting, show Daisane received 9,164 votes, or 51.6%, while Conway received 8,570 votes, or 48.3%, giving Daisane a margin of 594 votes.
“It’s a very good feeling to lose the first time, then come back and win,” Daisane told St. Cloud LIVE while celebrating with his supporters on election night. “Persistence pays off; we knocked on many doors, spoke with many people, and in return we built relationships with many people. … People want change.”
Daisane was running for the District 14A seat for the second consecutive time after defeating Republican representative Bernie Perryman in 2024.
The seat became vacant after Perryman decided not to seek a third term in the House of Representatives, choosing instead to mount a tough challenge against Democratic state Senator Aric Putnam for the District 14 Senate seat.
Daisane advanced to the general election after winning the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party primary in August with 62.52% of the vote. He defeated St. John’s University professor Paul R.F. Schumacher, according to data from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. Conway, meanwhile, won the Republican primary with 62.25%.
District 14A, which includes parts of St. Cloud and its surrounding areas, had previously been held by Republicans. The broader St. Cloud area has been highly competitive in recent elections, and President Donald Trump won the district in the 2024 election, according to local election reports.
During the campaign, Daisane focused on the cost of daily life, small businesses and government accountability. During a debate in September, he pledged not to raise taxes on working low-income families, older adults and struggling small businesses, while making clear that such tax relief would not be extended to wealthy individuals and large corporations.
Daisane’s victory came on the same night that Ilhan Omar, a prominent Somali American Democratic congresswoman, won a fifth term representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.
Preliminary data from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, with results from 216 of 217 polling locations, show Omar received 261,920 votes, or 76.45%, while her Republican challenger, John Nagel, received 55,698 votes, or 16.26%. Independent candidate DeVelle L. Jackson received just over 7%.
Omar, who was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a refugee, has represented the Minneapolis-area district in the House since 2019. She became the first Somali American elected to the U.S. Congress when she won her first election in 2018.
Daisane’s victory adds another Somali American official to Minnesota’s political stage while handing Democrats a key seat previously held by Republicans.
