From national Fox News,
Somali daycare owner tied to fraud wins Minnesota House race sparking online fury: ‘Lost state.’
Fox News reports,
The owner of a Somali daycare center that has faced scrutiny over state and federal funding and is linked to a massive fraud settlement won a seat in the Minnesota legislature Tuesday night.
Alpha News first covered this story and provides the political context,
DFL candidate Abdi Daisane defeated Republican Mike Conway in Tuesday’s election for Minnesota House District 14A, flipping a Republican-held seat.
Note the appearance of the classic state flag. Details from Fox News,
Daisane, who delivered part of his victory speech in Somali, is the CEO of Blooming Kids Child Care Center in St. Cloud, which has received $7.29 million from the state-run Child Care Assistance Program since 2018.
Alpha News digs deeper on the daycare’s regulatory record,
Further, the daycare center has a history of licensing violations which Alpha News first exposed in 2024. Since then, violations include hazardous objects being accessible to children, unclean space, and staff not supervising children at all times.
Then, there is the inevitable connection to the Feeding Our Future food-fraud scandal. From Fox News,
His childcare business also received $598,251.62 from the federally-funded Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) since 2020.
The daycare participated in the federal free-food program through the Partners in Nutrition network, a competitor to the more infamous Feeding Our Future. Alpha News reports,
The records show some of those claims were approved under the sponsorship of Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit that recently agreed to an $18.5 million settlement over allegations of widespread food-program fraud.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune ran a long piece (paywall) celebrating Daisane’s “historic” victory, under the headline,
A first for St. Cloud as Somali American man elected to Legislature
The article runs for some ten (10) paragraphs and quotes the representative-elect,
I’m Somali-American. I’m a Muslim. I’m Black. I’m an immigrant.
Yet, somehow, in those 10 paragraphs, the subject of Mr. Daisane’s business comes up only in passing, and in the last sentence of paragraph 9,
Since then, he’s opened a child care business and done consulting work to help other entrepreneurs.
Daisane joins the Democratic caucus in the state house, back in the majority for the first time in two years. The DFL caucus just named their new leadership team for 2027-28. In the number 3 leadership slot (called the Majority Whip), Democrats named Rep. Samantha Senser-Mura. She will be entering her third term representing a Minneapolis district.
More notably, she is an endorsed candidate of the Twin Cities chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
The legislature will convene January 12, 2027.
[Note: an earlier version of this post appeared at Power Line.]