Omar Mahmood Fateh (/ˈfɑːteɪ/ FAH-tay;[1] born April 19, 1990) is an American politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), he represents District 62, which includes parts of southwest Minneapolis in Hennepin County. Fateh is the first Somali American and Muslim to serve in the Minnesota Senate.[2] He was the DFL-endorsed candidate in the 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election until the party revoked the endorsement.[3]
Fateh was born in Washington, D.C.,[4] to immigrant parents from Somalia.[5] He graduated from Falls Church High School and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from George Mason University.[6] Fateh spent summer breaks in Minneapolis as a child.[7]
After an unsuccessful 2015 run for a seat on the Fairfax County School Board in northern Virginia,[2] Fateh moved to Minneapolis, where he ran for multiple government positions and held a nonpartisan job with the city in voter outreach.[2]
In 2018, Fateh ran for District 62A of the Minnesota House of Representatives, losing in the DFL primary to Hodan Hassan.[8]
In 2020, Fateh announced a primary challenge to incumbent Senator Jeff Hayden. A self-declared democratic socialist, he received support from groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Sunrise Movement.[9] He also received the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's endorsement.[10] Fateh defeated Hayden in the August primary, 54% to 45%,[11] and was elected to the Minnesota Senate with 89% of the vote in the general election.[12]
In 2022, Fateh defeated a challenger in the August 9 DFL primary, winning every precinct.[13] He defeated Republican nominee Andrew Schmitz in the November general election with over 90% of the vote.[14]
Fateh was sworn into the Minnesota legislature on January 5, 2021. During his first term, the Senate was under Republican control and the DFL controlled the House and governor's office.[15] Fateh authored 54 bills during the 2021–22 session.[16]
Fateh authored a bill passed during the 2021–22 session that exempted fentanyl test strips from being considered drug paraphernalia.[16] In January 2023, the Star Tribune reported that since legalization, community organizations and nonprofits had given away more than 100,000 strips, and cited evidence from surveys demonstrating that the strips changed user behavior, noting that 89% of users "took overdose-prevention measures once they discovered fentanyl".[17]
That year, Fateh returned $11,000 in previous campaign donations linked to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which was federally investigated for a $250 million fraud scheme. Fateh had previously defended the organization, accusing state agencies of targeting immigrant-owned businesses, but reversed his stance after federal raids began. He later expressed frustration that "providers were lying" to him.[18][19] Fateh was later criticized for having supported Feeding Our Future in 2021, before FBI raids uncovered the fraud.[20]
Also in 2022, Fateh faced a State Senate ethics investigation for failing to disclose $1,000 his campaign paid for advertisements to Somali TV Minnesota, a YouTube channel. A second complaint was related to the perjury conviction of Muse Mohamed, Fateh's brother-in-law and a volunteer on his 2020 campaign; a federal jury convicted Muse in May of lying to a federal grand jury about his handling of three absentee ballots for Fateh's campaign.[21] The ethics committee unanimously dismissed both complaints against Fateh, finding that the undisclosed advertising expense was outside of the ethics committee's scope and referring it to the campaign finance board.[22] Fateh was also ordered to attend campaign finance training.[21]
In 2022, Democrats won a "trifecta", taking control of the Senate, House, and governor's office.[23] Fateh was appointed chair of the Senate Higher Education committee and vice chair of the Senate Human Services Committee.[24]
In the 2023 legislative session, Fateh was the chief author of a bill to provide minimum wages and worker protections for drivers for rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft. The Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association (MULDA) supported the bill. It had bipartisan support and passed the House and Senate, but was vetoed by Governor Tim Walz.[25] Fateh worked on a revised form of the legislation for the 2024 session, which passed with Walz's support. The minimum wage went into effect in late 2024.[26]
As Senate Higher Education Committee Chair, Fateh initiated a successful bill that included tuition-free public colleges and universities and tribal colleges for students from families making less than $80,000 a year.[27] It also included an increase to Hunger Free Campus grants.[28]
Fateh supported a 2021 ballot initiative aimed at replacing the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) with a Department of Public Safety, a measure that failed to pass.[29] He has said that replacing the MPD "isn't on the table" in 2025, and his 2025 platform includes an increase in public safety resources.[30] Fateh has also publicly called for a ban on MPD's cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.[31]
Fateh has expressed a desire for an "alternative to policing" for 911 calls not requiring armed officers.[32]
Fateh has expressed support for rent stabilization[33] and increased housing density.[34]
Fateh's position on homelessness includes a "just cause" eviction policy, limiting landlords' reasons for evictions; he has said, "the largest contributor to homelessness is evictions". He supports sanitary stations at encampment sites and opposes homeless encampment sweeps.[34] He has said he supports Housing First initiatives and disapproves of bulldozing encampments.[35]
Fateh has said he supports efforts to institute a labor standards board for the city of Minneapolis.[32]
On November 20, 2024, Fateh declared his candidacy for mayor of Minneapolis in the 2025 election.[36] On July 19, 2025, the Minneapolis DFL endorsed Fateh over incumbent mayor Jacob Frey.[37] The Minnesota DFL revoked the endorsement after Frey appealed, citing a poorly secured registration spreadsheet and technical difficulties.[38] The Minneapolis DFL appealed the ruling, but the state party denied its appeal.[39]
During his campaign, Fateh was targeted by islamophobic language. On July 14, 2025, conservative online commentator Charlie Kirk tweeted that Fateh was a part of an Islamic takeover of the United States.[40][41] Local politicians, including his opponents in the mayoral election, responded in Fateh's defense.[42] On August 25, 2025, Fateh's campaign office was vandalized with Islamophobic graffiti reading, "Somali Muslim — This warning is no joke".[43]
In October 2025, Fateh's campaign was fined for distributing yard signs that cited the DFL endorsement after it was revoked, a campaign finance violation.[44]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Omar Fateh | 24,271 | 90.28% | |
| Republican | Andrew Schmitz | 2,528 | 9.40% | |
| Write-in | 84 | 0.31% | ||
| Total votes | 26,883 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Omar Fateh | 11,109 | 54.86% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Jeff Hayden | 9,140 | 45.14% | |
| Total votes | 20,249 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Omar Fateh | 33,103 | 88.99% | |
| Republican | Bruce Lundeen | 3,947 | 10.61% | |
| Write-in | 150 | 0.40% | ||
| Total votes | 37,200 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Hodan Hassan | 2,207 | 28.41% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Osman Ahmed | 1,607 | 20.68% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Omar Fateh | 1,602 | 20.62% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Margarita Ortega | 1,531 | 19.71% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Jen Kader | 822 | 10.58% | |
| Total votes | 7,769 | 100.0% | ||
Fateh lives in Minneapolis's Phillips neighborhood[48] with his wife, Kaltum.[49] His sister-in-law is Minnesota State Senator Zaynab Mohamed.[50] He has a son, born in August 2025.[49]
.jpg/250px-Omar_Fateh,_November_2021_(cropped).jpg){kind=small}
.jpg "Omar Fateh")
