Raymond Dehn.
Age: 59.
Born: North Minneapolis.
Party: DFL.
Photographed at North High School.
Raymond Dehn was an architect who shifted to politics after becoming a self-described "casualty" of the recession. Before studying architecture, he battled substance abuse and turned to burglary to support his habit. Arrested and convicted in 1976, he sees his incarceration as a turning point in his life, propelling him to sober up and pursue education. "If you keep your highs low and your lows higher, life tends to be a bit easier to deal with."
Candidates for Minneapolis mayor will vie for the DFL endorsement Saturday, but they are only a part of the crowded ballot.
University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs said it's unlikely any one of the people who want the endorsement for mayor will get it, because he said it will be hard for any one candidate to get the required 60 percent of the votes.
And, Jacobs said, the traditional endorsement process has changed over the years. "There used to be a time when, if you had the support of the unions, it was kind of a glide path to getting the endorsement and then having a good shot to win the mayor's race. That's no longer the case. There are a lot of different power centers now."
One DFL candidate, Nekima Levy-Pounds, is not seeking the endorsement. The convention will be held at the Minneapolis convention center.
In November, voters will again pick a mayor through ranked-choice voting. In 2013, they chose among 35 names, so while there are plenty of options this year, it's a much smaller slate than last time around.
Correction (July 10, 2017): An earlier version of this story misstated the location for the portrait of Aswar Rahman.
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9 of 9
Captain Jack Sparrow.
Age: 66.
Born: Aitkin, Minn.
Party: DFL.
Photographed at Soup for You Cafe in Seward.
A longtime activist, Captain Jack Sparrow has never seen Pirates of the Caribbean. "It was the best costume available in the costume store," Sparrow said of the day he took on the moniker after being arrested in the getup delivering a petition to the president of U.S. Bank in 2012. Outside of activism, Sparrow, known previously as Charles David Viebahn, has worked for co-ops and written for different newspapers, but the fight to eliminate poverty and homelessness has been his longtime mission.
Evan Frost | MPR News
1 of 9
Raymond Dehn.
Age: 59.
Born: North Minneapolis.
Party: DFL.
Photographed at North High School.
Raymond Dehn was an architect who shifted to politics after becoming a self-described "casualty" of the recession. Before studying architecture, he battled substance abuse and turned to burglary to support his habit. Arrested and convicted in 1976, he sees his incarceration as a turning point in his life, propelling him to sober up and pursue education. "If you keep your highs low and your lows higher, life tends to be a bit easier to deal with."
Evan Frost | MPR News
2 of 9
Al Flowers.
Age: 58.
Born: Chicago, Ill.
Party: DFL.
Photographed at Sabathani Community Center.
Two years ago, Al Flowers lost a daughter to gun violence. Born and raised in Chicago, Flowers picked up what he calls his "common sense approach" after three decades of living in south Minneapolis. As a full-time community organizer, he said he does what he can to keep the city's youth away from drugs and violence. "Nobody wants to talk about what we are doing to ourselves in the black community, so I think it's important to get the city behind a gun violence initiative."
Evan Frost | MPR News
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