Abdi Daisane, a 38-year-old Somali-born daycare owner from St. Cloud, has flipped a Republican-held seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, becoming the first Somali-born state lawmaker elected from the city. His victory in District 14A on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, ended more than two decades of Republican control of the seat — and it came as state investigators continue to examine the fraud-linked childcare funding network that touched his business.

Key Points

• Daisane, a Democrat, won Minnesota House District 14A on November 3, 2026, flipping a seat Republicans had held since at least 2002.
• He is the first Somali-born state lawmaker elected from St. Cloud, home to one of Minnesota’s largest Somali-American communities.
• His Blooming Kids Child Care Center has received more than $7.29 million through Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program since 2018.
• About $598,251 in federal food-program money reached the centre through Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit that settled an $18.5 million fraud case in September 2026.
• Daisane and Blooming Kids were not named as defendants in that settlement, and no finding has been made that he personally committed fraud.

What Happened

Daisane won the District 14A race on Election Day, defeating the Republican hold on a St. Cloud seat that had been in Republican hands since at least 2002. The result came as Democrats swept both chambers of Congress nationally and posted gains in state races across the country.

For St. Cloud, the result is historic. Daisane becomes the first Somali-born state lawmaker elected from the city, a milestone for a community that has grown into one of the largest Somali-American populations in the United States. He is the chief executive of Blooming Kids Child Care Center, a St. Cloud daycare that has become a fixture of the city’s childcare system — and, in recent months, a focus of questions about how public childcare money is spent.

Background: The Seat, the Candidate and the Money

Blooming Kids has received more than $7.29 million through Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program since 2018, state records show. The programme helps low-income families pay for childcare, and it is one of the main ways Minnesota funds daycare providers. The centre also received about $598,251 through the federally funded Child and Adult Care Food Program since 2020, money meant to reimburse providers for meals served to children in their care.

That food-program money was administered through Partners in Nutrition, a Minnesota nonprofit that acted as a sponsor for childcare providers claiming meal reimbursements. On September 24, 2026, Partners in Nutrition agreed to an $18.5 million civil settlement with the state after the Minnesota Attorney General alleged it knowingly submitted fraudulent reimbursement claims for meals that were never served, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The settlement landed in a state already under national scrutiny over fraud in federally funded food programmes, an issue that featured in Minnesota’s Senate race this year. The Partners in Nutrition case concerns one sponsor organisation and the claims it submitted, not the daycare centres that received money through it.

Abdi Daisane and the Fraud-Linked Funding Questions

That distinction matters for Daisane. Neither he nor Blooming Kids was named as a defendant in the $18.5 million settlement, and no finding has been made that he personally committed fraud. The settlement resolved claims against Partners in Nutrition itself, the organisation that administered the food-program funds and submitted the reimbursement claims to the state.

What remains unresolved is whether anyone connected to the sponsor faces further action. On Friday, November 6, 2026, the Attorney General’s office said investigations into individuals and entities affiliated with Partners in Nutrition remain ongoing. Daisane did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital, which first reported the funding details of his win.

Reactions: Scrutiny Follows a Historic Win

The Attorney General’s office has not said whether Blooming Kids or Daisane is a subject of the investigations, and it has announced no charges or findings against either. The office’s public position is that its work around Partners in Nutrition continues, a stance that leaves the questions around the daycare’s funding open rather than settled.

Coverage of the win has focused on the contrast at its centre: a first-of-its-kind victory for St. Cloud’s Somali-American community, shadowed by a fraud case in the funding stream that helped sustain the winner’s business. Daisane has not publicly addressed the funding questions since the election, and no statement from his campaign has been reported.

Why It Matters

Daisane’s win is a genuine milestone. St. Cloud’s Somali-American community, one of the largest in the country, now has a state lawmaker of its own from the city for the first time, and the flip of a seat held by Republicans for more than two decades shows how far the city’s politics have moved. In a midterm defined by Democratic gains, District 14A is one of the clearest examples of a changing electorate.

But the funding questions will follow him into office. A new lawmaker whose business received millions in public money, routed through a sponsor that has settled a major fraud case, will face scrutiny from the start — from colleagues, from the press and from voters. How he answers those questions, and what the Attorney General’s continuing investigations find, will shape his first term as much as the history he made by winning.

What Happens Next

Daisane will take his seat when the Minnesota Legislature convenes in January 2027. Until then, the public record is clear on one point and open on another: he has not been accused of fraud, named as a defendant or found to have done anything wrong — but the investigations around Partners in Nutrition have not closed.

If those investigations produce findings that touch Blooming Kids or Daisane personally, they will become a central story of his early time in office. If they do not, the funding questions may fade, leaving the historic first as the lasting story of the District 14A race.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Abdi Daisane?
Daisane, 38, is a Democrat and the chief executive of Blooming Kids Child Care Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He is the first Somali-born state lawmaker elected from the city.

Which seat did he win?
Minnesota House District 14A, a St. Cloud seat, on November 3, 2026. Republicans had held the seat since at least 2002.

How much public money did his daycare receive?
More than $7.29 million through Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program since 2018, and about $598,251 through the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program since 2020.

Was Daisane accused of fraud?
No. He and Blooming Kids were not named as defendants in the $18.5 million settlement agreed by Partners in Nutrition in September 2026, and no finding has been made that he committed fraud. Investigations into people and organisations affiliated with Partners in Nutrition remain ongoing.

What happens next?
Daisane takes his seat when the Minnesota Legislature convenes in January 2027, while the Attorney General’s investigations continue. No charges or findings against him have been announced.

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