A Somali American daycare owner whose business has faced repeated licensing violations and scrutiny over taxpayer funding is headed to the Minnesota Legislature. Abdi Daisane, a Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party candidate, won the House District 14A race in St. Cloud on November 3rd. His childcare center participated in a federal food program through a nonprofit sponsor that subsequently agreed to settle state fraud allegations.
Daisane defeated Republican Mike Conway, the president of the St. Cloud City Council, flipping a Republican-held seat. The victory followed an unsuccessful campaign for the same district in 2024, when Daisane lost to Republican state Rep. Bernie Perryman. Perryman sought a state Senate seat this year, challenging Democratic incumbent Aric Putnam, who won another term representing the surrounding area.
Daisane operates Blooming Kids Child Care Center, which opened in 2018 and is licensed to serve up to 113 children. From 2020 into early 2022, Partners in Nutrition served as the daycare’s sponsor for participation in the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program. In that role, the nonprofit was responsible for overseeing participating meal sites. The fraud settlement involved that same sponsoring organization; Blooming Kids itself wasn’t named in the lawsuit.
Unofficial state election results, with all 18 precincts reporting, showed Daisane receiving 9,163 votes to Conway’s 8,570, a margin of 593. As MPR News reported, Daisane came to the United States more than 15 years ago and became the St. Cloud area’s first Somali American elected to the state Legislature. Fox News reported that he delivered part of his victory speech in Somali.
An October 29th Alpha News investigation detailed the center’s funding and regulatory history. Records cited by the outlet showed more than $7.29 million in Child Care Assistance Program payments since 2018. Separately, records provided to Alpha News showed $598,251.62 in approved Child and Adult Care Food Program claims since late 2020. The first program subsidizes childcare for low-income families; the second funds meals and snacks.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the $18.5 million civil settlement with Partners in Nutrition on September 24th. His office alleged that the nonprofit submitted false reimbursement claims for unserved meals between October 2020 and February 2022. Sponsors are responsible for overseeing participating food-distribution sites. “Claiming millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded reimbursements for astronomical amounts of meals that were never delivered to Minnesota’s children is despicable,” Ellison said.
The agreement requires Partners in Nutrition to surrender its remaining funds, provide additional documents and communications, and permanently dissolve. It also includes a stayed $1 million civil penalty that could be triggered by violations of the agreement. Blooming Kids wasn’t named in that lawsuit, Alpha News reported. The attorney general’s announcement said investigations into affiliated individuals, site operators and vendors remained ongoing.
"*" indicates required fields
Watch the video here:
Separately, Alpha News documented more than a dozen additional licensing violations at Blooming Kids after its initial reporting on the facility in July 2024. Those findings included hazardous objects within children’s reach, unclean space, prohibited disciplinary actions and failures to supervise children at all times. The outlet contacted Daisane again for its October investigation and reported receiving no response before publication.
The election also follows a guilty plea involving another Minnesota daycare operator. As FOX 9 reported, Fahima Egeh Mahamud, the former CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center, pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Her facility appeared in Nick Shirley’s viral daycare investigation. In a January statement addressing Minnesota’s broader public-program fraud investigations, the White House said 85 of the 98 defendants charged at that point were of Somali descent, with 64 defendants already convicted.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.