ST. CLOUD, November 7, 2026 — Somali-born daycare owner Abdi Daisane won Minnesota House District 14A on Tuesday, flipping a Republican-held seat while his business, Blooming Kids Child Care Center, faces scrutiny over millions in taxpayer funding and ties to an $18.5 million fraud settlement. Daisane defeated St. Cloud City Council President Mike Conway by 593 votes, becoming the first Somali-born legislator from the city.
The District and the Demographic Shift
House District 14A covers St. Cloud, a central Minnesota city where political allegiances have hardened and then shifted. Republicans held the seat for more than two decades. In 2024, Daisane lost to incumbent Republican Bernie Perryman. This cycle, the district flipped as part of a broader DFL sweep: State Sen. Aric Putnam won a third term in Senate District 14 with roughly 56 percent of the vote, and former legislator Zach Dorholt reclaimed House District 14B with about 57 percent. The area’s significant Somali-American population, centered in St. Cloud, provided a demographic backdrop Daisane leaned into, delivering part of his victory speech in Somali.
From Refugee Camp to the Capitol
Daisane was born in Somalia in 1987 or 1988 as civil war erupted. He spent 18 years in a Kenyan refugee camp before emigrating to the United States, initially settling in Nebraska before moving to St. Cloud. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from St. Cloud State University and founded Blooming Kids Child Care Center in 2017. Before his successful 2026 run, he served as an Initiative Foundation Enterprise Academy Program Officer and co-founded a nonprofit to recruit low-income college students. An earlier bid for St. Cloud City Council in 2016 was unsuccessful.
The Funding Streams Under the Hood
The technical reality of the scrutiny centers on two distinct funding pipes. Since 2018, Blooming Kids has drawn $7.29 million from Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), the state-run subsidy for low-income families. Separately, the center collected $598,251.62 from the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) starting in 2020. CACFP funds do not flow directly to providers; they require a sponsor. For Blooming Kids, that sponsor was Partners in Nutrition.
The Sponsor’s Settlement
In September 2026, Partners in Nutrition agreed to an $18.5 million civil settlement with the State of Minnesota. Attorney General Keith Ellison alleged the nonprofit “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.” The settlement requires the organization to turn over remaining funds, assist investigators, and shut down permanently. Blooming Kids was not named as a defendant, and no findings have established Daisane’s involvement in the alleged fraud. State authorities have confirmed investigations into other associated individuals and organizations are continuing.
Licensing Violations and the Empty Facility
Alpha News reported years of state licensing violations at Blooming Kids, including hazardous objects accessible to children, unclean spaces, and staff failing to supervise children. A worker at a neighboring business told the outlet they never saw children entering or leaving the facility, though they acknowledged a rear entrance they could not observe. A Fox News Digital visit days after the election described a quiet scene: a mostly empty parking lot, tinted and mirrored film covering floor-to-ceiling windows, and a tiny fenced playground behind the building.
The Margin and What Comes Next
Unofficial results with all 18 precincts reporting show Daisane at 9,163 votes (51.59%) and Conway at 8,570 votes (48.25%). The 593-vote margin hands the DFL a narrow majority in a chamber where Daisane will now participate in decisions on state laws, spending, and government oversight — including the very programs that funded his business. Right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley’s prior allegations of fraud at Somali-American daycare centers led to harassment of Daisane and his staff; post-election, conservative commentators and activists amplified calls for federal immigration scrutiny of Daisane’s wife, Ayaan Aydid. Daisane did not respond to requests for comment from multiple outlets.
Sources
- Who Is Abdi Daisane? Somalian Daycare Owner Linked to $18.5M Taxpayer Fraud Wins Minnesota House Race
- Abdi Daisane
- Daisane elected St. Cloud’s first Somali American state lawmaker
- Somali daycare owner tied to fraud wins Minnesota House race sparking online fury: 'Lost state'
- DFL daycare owner wins Minnesota House seat despite repeated violations, report of no children seen at facility | AlphaNews.org
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Photo: xiquinhosilva (CC BY 2.0)
