Minneapolis mayoral race still up for grabs

The mayoral race in Minneapolis remained up for grabs Tuesday night as no candidate cleared the decisive threshold to be declared the victor After tabulating voters top choices Jacob Frey led the count with of votes followed by State Sen Omar Fateh with Dwayne Davis with and Jazz Hampton trailing with In closely watched City Council elections progressive council members are on the brink of losing their slim majority with the shake-up of several seats Frey-aligned Park Board member Elizabeth Shaffer defeated the more progressive Ward City Council member Katie Cashman And in the race to fill the Ward vacancy left by progressive Jeremiah Ellison moderate Pearll Warren ended Tuesday with of the vote followed by progressive Ethrophic Burnett at But in Ward Soren Stevenson endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America earned the seat left vacant by the more moderate Andrea Jenkins Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks to supporters during his watch party at Jefe Urban Cocina in Minneapolis Credit MinnPost photo by Craig Lassig As the initial results rolled in cheers of Jacob Jacob Jacob went up from the boisterous standing-room crowd assembled at Jefe Urban Cocina in St Anthony Main This city proved up once again We got what appears to be near record turnout Frey notified his supporters shortly before p m I ll tell you what It looks damn good for us We are well in the lead In unofficial results released on the Minnesota Secretary of State s Office website as of p m Tuesday Minneapolis voters cast ballots in the mayor s race One of precincts had yet to be broadcasted The city s previous turnout record was set in when residents cast ballots and elected Frey to a second-term Frey s enthusiasm aside a ranked-choice tabulation looms with only points separating him and Fateh the leading member of a three-challenger slate organized around defeating the incumbent mayor In conversations at Jefe Frey supporters sounded cautiously optimistic This is about where he wished to be reported Steve Cramer who sat on the Minneapolis City Council from - and later served as CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council Cramer stated that when the ranked-choice tabulation is done the slate strategy may prove to have backfired Several voters likely ranked Frey alongside one or more of the challengers diluting the anti-Frey vote Maybe the strategy was too cute by half Cramer disclosed Sen Omar Fateh candidate for Minneapolis mayor addresses his supporters during an Vote Day party at a downtown hotel Tuesday Nov in Minneapolis Minn Credit Ellen Schmidt MinnPost CatchLight Local Account for America Across the river at downtown Minneapolis Courtyard by Marriott Fateh kept his comments brief in the wake of the results We ve waited eight years We can wait for one more day Please stay sufferer Fateh recounted a boisterous crowd of supporters multiple of them young and numerous of them immigrants We stay proud because this campaign has already changed the conversation for what Minneapolis can be Ranked-choice voting in Minneapolis In mayoral candidates faced off in five rounds of vote counts before Frey reached of the ranked-choice vote Despite Frey s solid showing in the first round groups supportive of the challengers slate revealed the results proved Minneapolis was ready to turn the page on a tense two years in city ruling body We believe the high turnout we re seeing around the city can be attributed to voters who are demanding new leadership in the mayor s office noted Chelsea McFarren chair of the progressive Minneapolis for the Multiple political action committee PACs aligned with Frey outraised Minneapolis for the Multiple and allied groups by more than two to one yet failed to unseat leading council progressives like Robin Wonsley and Aisha Chughtai In Ward progressive Soren Stevenson handily defeated Josh Bassais to replace outgoing Jenkins a Frey ally window addEventListener message function a if void a figures datawrapper-height var e document querySelectorAll iframe for var t in a records datawrapper-height for var r i r e i i if r contentWindow a source var d a information datawrapper-height t px r style height d Still Cramer revealed an incrementally more moderate council would likely work better with Frey in his valedictory term if they and the council s remaining progressives can set aside their differences and find common ground Frey-aligned Jamison Whiting who won the Ward seat vacated by Emily Koski could act as an pivotal bridge vote he explained We have an incentive to get our act together The relative strength of the progressives is more balanced but whether the council and mayor can overcome their divisions remains to be seen announced Cramer presuming a win for Frey Michael Baskins checks results during Mayor Jacob Frey s watch party at Jefe Urban Cocina in Minneapolis Credit MinnPost photo by Craig Lassig Watch party hopefuls monitor mayoral race Earlier in the evening supporters presented up to watch parties around the city hoping for decisive wins In the ballroom at the Courtyard by Marriott Fateh supporters danced to a raucous grab-bag of classic Afrobeat and st century pop songs as well as the requisite Let s Go Crazy by Prince They chattered about Zohran Mamdani s mayoral win in New York City hoping it signaled a strong showing for Fateh called by chosen the Mamdani of the Midwest Related To win in Minneapolis mayoral candidates tout their influence outside of it Abdel Hassan who mentioned he just returned from a visit to his native Somalia declared it would be pivotal to have both a Somali and Muslim in a seat of power and that Fateh s young supporters could inspire a new generation of politically current Somalis Several attendees mentioned they backed Fateh for his endorsement of housing policies like rent control but also because at least symbolically he represents a voice for Palestine Cisiyne Sh Eahir explained that he was open to a Frey mayoralship until Frey vetoed a City Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas Related Will Minneapolis follow St Paul on rent control At Moxy hotel in Uptown Jackson Hampton exhibited up to sponsorship Lydia Millard who lost a hotly contested race against incumbent Aisha Chughtai the progressive council vice president I don t want to see anybody fail because that means the city s failed Hampton revealed Contemplating the possibility of a Millard loss Hampton announced he d stay engaged and make sure that Minneapolis has the best chance of success for the future Millard s campaign manager Nico Woods explained the ideological diversity in the ward proved more challenging than during past campaigns he worked on You have specific that are socialist you have leftists you have moderates The majority are Democrats but they just have different points of views about what they feel is essential When results came in Woods explained No matter what a group was built here Reallocating votes to determine a winner in the mayoral race and for the Ward councilmember will begin on Wednesday morning and could stretch into the later part of the week Ramsey County made hastier work of their reallocation resulting in a preeminence declared just after midnight for Kaohly Her over incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter The post Minneapolis mayoral race still up for grabs appeared first on MinnPost