The 2021 campaign became even more consequential when three critical charter questions were added to the ballot - one on mayoral authority, a second on policing and public safety, and a third on rent control.įrey's top challengers, Kate Knuth and Sheila Nezhad, ran to the left of the incumbent, who can best be described as a moderate progressive. He refused to be cowed, showing common sense and a backbone as he stood up to the angry crowd. When it endorsed Frey last month, the Star Tribune Editorial Board pointed to one of the most politically challenging days in his first term, when protesters gathered at the mayor's home not long after George Floyd's death to demand that he defund the Police Department. The economic fallout from the pandemic, the brutal murder of a Black man at the hands of a Minneapolis cop and a wave of violent crime made this ranked-choice election especially unpredictable. That outcome was far from certain when voting began this fall. Ilhan Omar and her social media legions - to win re-election on Wednesday.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey overcame a full-scale attack from his left - including the late-campaign efforts of Fifth District U.S.
