Ilhan Omar's Campaign Expenses Dip By Millions Of Dollars After She Makes This Move

Ilhan Omar's campaign expenditures to consultants decreased significantly after she took her husband's firm off her payroll.

During the 2020 election cycle, a considerable amount of money from the Minnesota lawmaker's campaign was given to the E Street Group, a political consulting company co-owned by her spouse, Tim Mynett. This firm was the largest receiver of the committee's funds, accumulating half of Omar's total expenditures.

February 10, 2023

Following increased public scrutiny, Omar decided to end the payments to E Street Group before the 2022 election cycle. Her campaign now pays significantly less for the same services to other companies, raising suspicions about the prices E Street Group had been charging.

A review of Federal Election Commission filings showed that after her husband's business was taken away, Omar's expenditure on similar services was reduced by around $2 million.

Omar's team had previously shelled out approximately $3 million to the E Street Group for their services, which included the creation of commercials, direct mail, video production and editing, fundraising advice, and research, among other tasks.

However, looking at Omar's 2022 election filing documents reveals that her campaign allocated only around $1 million to a limited number of organizations in Washington D.C., Minnesota, and California for those same services.

Rachel Barnett, a former director at the E Street Group, runs Barnett Strategies LLC, a company that has stepped up to cover some of the fundraising duties.

Two months after the last check for $300,000 was sent from the campaign to the E Street Group, business documents reveal that Barnett set up the company. In comparison, Barnett Strategies has only been paid $100,000. There is no indication that Omar's husband is associated with the E Street Group other than the fact that his previous employer owns it.

Omar's decision to cut her husband's firm from her campaign's payroll caused the total percentages for comparable services to drastically decrease. According to the filings, the E Street Group received around 50% of the $5.7 million in distributions from the 2020 campaign. However, in 2022, the other companies performing the same services only took in about 30% of the $3.2 million in total expenditures.

When Omar was up against her most serious Democratic competitor since her congressional run, her payments also dropped dramatically. The prominent member of the 'Squad' eked out a victory in the 2022 Democratic primary, with a mere 2,436-vote margin over rival Don Samuels.

In the 2018 Democratic primary, Omar had a sure victory of 35,011 votes, with no real opposition, as the E Street Group was bringing in a lot of revenue.