Abdi Daisane, a Somali-born daycare owner whose business has received millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded assistance and was connected to a nonprofit involved in an $18.5 million fraud settlement, has won a seat in Minnesota’s legislature.
Daisane, who operates Blooming Kids Child Care Center in St. Cloud, prevailed in Tuesday’s midterm election despite growing scrutiny surrounding his business and its participation in publicly funded childcare programs.
The Democrat defeated Republican Mike Conway, president of the St. Cloud City Council, to represent Minnesota House District 14A with about 52 percent of the vote.
His victory makes him St. Cloud’s first Somali-born state legislator and turns over a district Republicans had held for more than 20 years.
The result has drawn attention to the millions of dollars Daisane’s childcare business received through government programs, including funds administered through an organization that recently reached a multimillion-dollar fraud settlement.
Fox News reported that Blooming Kids Child Care Center received $7.29 million through Minnesota’s state-run Child Care Assistance Program beginning in 2018.
The center also collected nearly $600,000 through the federally funded Child and Adult Care Food Program since 2020.
Those food-program payments were sponsored by Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit that agreed in September to an $18.5 million civil settlement with Minnesota authorities.
Somali-born Democrat Abdi Daisane won a seat in Minnesota’s state legislature despite mounting scrutiny of his taxpayer-funded childcare business
Authorities accused the organization of filing false claims for meals that were never served to children during and after the Covid pandemic.
When the settlement was announced, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Partners in Nutrition had ‘knowingly defrauded the State of Minnesota out of millions of dollars in federal child nutrition funds during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, in violation of the Minnesota False Claims Act.’
Under the agreement, the nonprofit will surrender its remaining funds, assist investigators and permanently dissolve.
Blooming Kids was not named as a defendant in the settlement, and no finding has established that Daisane or his daycare took part in the alleged fraud.
State authorities have said investigations into other organizations and individuals linked to the nonprofit are still underway.
At the same time, questions have been raised about the daycare’s operation after reporters found the facility apparently quiet during a visit earlier this week.
The visit came after an investigation by conservative Minnesota outlet Alpha News, which said an employee at a neighboring business could not remember seeing children enter or leave the center.
The outlet also reported that Blooming Kids had amassed more than a dozen licensing violations. Local journalists additionally reported concerns involving staff supervision, employee training, medical records and cleanliness.
Blooming Kids Child Care Center received nearly $8million in government funding and was sponsored by a nonprofit that agreed to an $18.5million fraud settlement, although the daycare itself was not named in the case
While some of the earlier violations were later resolved, the daycare received additional citations in October.
Despite the controversy, the 38-year-old won a decisive victory Tuesday, beating Conway by 9,164 votes to 8,570.
Daisane had previously sought the same seat in 2024, when he lost to Republican state Representative Bernie Perryman.
Perryman did not pursue reelection to the House this year and instead made an unsuccessful run for the state Senate.
Daisane’s second campaign succeeded, and the childcare operator celebrated in a victory speech delivered partly in Somali.
Born in Somalia, Daisane spent much of his childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to the United States in 2009.
He eventually settled in St. Cloud, attended St. Cloud State University and opened his childcare business.
On the campaign trail, he highlighted affordable housing, education, economic opportunity and government accountability, including efforts to prevent fraud.
Reports of his election victory quickly triggered angry responses from conservative commentators on social media.
‘We are a lost state,’ Red Ax Strategies President Matt Brodsky wrote on X. ‘We should cede it to Canada.’
Conservative commentator Eric Daugherty also expressed outrage.
‘Minnesota is so freaking cooked,’ he declared.
‘Minnesota is done,’ added conservative personality Gunther Eagleman.
The Daily Mail has contacted Abdi Daisane and the Minnesota Attorney General for additional comment.Â