Abdimalik Askar
Abdimalik Askar is a Somali-American educator, entrepreneur and politician. He holds an undergraduate degree from Normandale Community College, as well as a BA in Information Technology and a Master's in Project Management from St. Mary's University. Askar has worked in scholastic administration at the elementary, secondary and collegiate levels, including as an Assistant Principal at Best Academy East. Additionally, he previously served as an outreach coordinator for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. He also established the Somali TV public access channel in 1998. In 2012, Askar unsuccessfully ran for President of Somalia. In March 2014, he was officially endorsed as the Republican Party of Minnesota's candidate running for the Minnesota House of Representatives in Minneapolis' District 60B. He was also endorsed for the same seat in 2016.
Askar's chief rival in the general election was the Democratic nominee Ilhan Omar, another activist in the Somali-American community. Askar subsequently announced his withdrawal from the campaign, as he was grieving the death of his father and attempting to complete a doctorate at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.
