Minneapolis, St. Paul voters consider new leaders, revenue for schools and more
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Voters in Minneapolis and St. Paul will decide, among other things, whether to grant third terms to their mayors.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has presided over the city for the last eight years, including leading the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.
In St. Paul, there’s a similar choice for voters — elect Melvin Carter to a third term, or bring a new voice into the office.
Crowded Minneapolis ballots
Voters in Minneapolis will elect a mayor and all 13 members of the City Council. They’ll also vote for all nine representatives on the Park Board and both elected members of the city’s Board of Estimate and Taxation.
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Although there are 15 registered candidates for mayor, many of the candidates aren’t fundraising or holding campaign events. Frey’s three main challengers for mayor are state Sen. Omar Fateh, attorney Jazz Hampton and minister DeWayne Davis.
Residents will elect a mayor using a ranked-choice voting system. In an attempt to use ranked-choice voting to their advantage, Fateh, Hampton and Davis have urged one another’s supporters to rank anyone but Frey.
Prominent issues in the mayoral race have included the candidates’ approaches to public safety, police reform and affordable housing. All four leading candidates have said they’re the best choice to oppose any federal actions in Minneapolis by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Outcome could impact balance of progressives vs moderates on the council
The City Council’s progressive majority that took power during the 2023 election has clashed consistently with Frey and his administration. The mayor has vetoed a number of actions passed by the council.
There are three open seats on the council, with Council Members Jeremiah Ellison, Emily Koski and Andrea Jenkins declining to run again. Progressives, including Vice President Aisha Chughtai and Council Members Katie Cashman and Robin Wonsley, are facing strong challenges from candidates more aligned with the mayor.
Although the progressive majority led by Council President Elliott Payne has a slight numeric advantage, a couple of upsets in council races could upend the ideological balance of the council.
Money has flowed into the races, with business groups targeting progressive candidates.
In Ward 7, park board member Elizabeth Shaffer has raised almost $250,000, more than twice as much as Cashman, according to Minneapolis campaign finance data. In Ward 10, Chughtai has raised $62,000 to challenger Lydia Millard’s $171,000. In Ward 2, challenger Shelly Madore has raised almost $129,000 compared to Wonsley’s $72,000.
The political action committee All of Mpls, which has been supporting Frey and his allies, reports spending about $830,000 this year, according to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.
Minneapolis for the Many, which has supported progressives in the races, reports spending of $145,000 this year. The PAC received contributions from the progressive group TakeAction Minnesota and Movement Voter PAC Minnesota.
All nine seats on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board are up for election, which includes representatives of six park districts and three at-large commissioners that serve the entire city. Two commissioners, Kedar Deshpande and Charles Rucker, are running unopposed. Eight candidates are vying for the three at-large seats.
Three candidates are running for the two elected spots on the city’s Board of Estimate and Taxation, which sets the city’s tax levy. The candidates include incumbent president and retired Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Steve Brandt, former park board Commissioner Bob Fine and Eric Harris Bernstein, who works for We Make Minnesota, a coalition of labor and community groups that advocates for a progressive tax code.
Carter faces challenge from former staff member
Mayor Melvin Carter is seeking to hold onto his seat, but is facing four challengers.
Carter has campaigned on building his record, highlighting programs that fight economic disparity like the $15 an hour minimum wage and guaranteed income pilot project; a focus on getting more growth and housing downtown; and an expansion of public safety initiatives, which he says has helped the city’s drop in violent crime over the last year.
But the DFL incumbent faces one of his former staff members, Rep. Kaohly Her, DFL-St. Paul. She is running on a platform of bolstering public safety, getting more development/supporting businesses in the city and expanding public and affordable housing options.
Other challengers include scientist and business owner Yan Chen, business owner Mike Hilborn and engineer Adam Dullinger.
Other St. Paul decisions
St. Paul voters will also get two ballot questions to vote up or down.
First, an amendment to the city charter that would give the city council the ability to issue administrative fines for ordinance violations.
The measure was unanimously supported by the council in January, but a petition stopped it from going into effect, and instead handed the issue to voters to decide. Voters will be asked to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the charter amendment.
The second up or down vote is for increasing the St. Paul School District’s operating levy — one of 43 districts in the state asking for approval for operating levy increases.
The district is asking for a $37.2 million addition to its operating levy per year for the next ten years, with annual inflation adjustments. The district says the funding would mean the district would not have to make “significant budget reductions” to several school programs, or cut them entirely.
