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Mayor Jacob Frey has been re-elected to a third term, but when that term begins next January, he'll be working with a slightly different city council for the next four years. 

The current council has a veto-proof majority that has often clashed with the mayor over issues including the 

, which Frey said needed more business representation to be fair; the 

 for some of the city’s highest paid employees as a way to lower the property tax levy increase. 

This time around, the council will likely maintain that majority — but may not have the votes to be veto-proof. It takes nine votes to overturn the mayor’s veto, which was the case when the city council 

There was one major upset: the defeat of Ward 7 incumbent Katie Cashman by Park and Recreation Board member Elizabeth Shaffer in the most expensive city council race of the election. Shaffer is more aligned with Frey than Cashman, who often — but not always — voted with the majority. 

All 13 seats were on the ballot this election. Nine incumbent council members were re-elected, but there will be four new faces on the dais.

Ward 7 upset, Katie Cashman unseated in most expensive race

Shaffer beat Cashman by 800 votes, winning the seat to represent parts of downtown Minneapolis, Loring Park, Lowry Hill and Bryn Mawr. 

Elizabeth Shaffer had the most fundraising out of any council candidate — raising about double the amount of Cashman with nearly $250,000. Shaffer was supported by political action committees backed by developers, the Downtown Council and landlord groups that also support Frey. 

During the Minneapolis park worker’s strike in 2024, Katie Cashman was on the picket lines with park workers who were striking for better pay and safety protections. Three weeks in, Elizabeth Shaffer, as a member of the Park Board, voted down a resolution that would've directed negotiators to end the strike and offer workers an agreement without contract takeaways the union called anti-worker.

Shaffer has said she wants to prove it's possible to be pro-worker and pro-business and boost economic vitality in Uptown and Downtown. She's also said she's responsive to frustrations with the progressive majority and wants to tighten up the budget and focus more on core city functions. Prior to Cashman, the Ward 7 seat had been held by longtime council member Lisa Goodman. 

Three newcomers take the seats of council members who did not run for re-election

Three council members opted not to run for re-election: Jeremiah Ellison (W5), Andrea Jenkins (W8) and Emily Koski (W11). 

Pearll Warren will take the seat of Jeremiah Ellison, who has been representing part of the Northside since 2018. The Ward 5 city council race was the only one that was not won off of voters’ first-round choices alone. She took 48 percent of the votes once second choices were factored in. 

Warren was backed by the Frey-aligned PAC All of Minneapolis. She has campaigned on legislating by working with the community, law enforcement and local businesses. Warren has worked for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity as the Homeownership Development Manager and has worked as a literacy intervention specialist with Minneapolis Public Schools. She’s also a poet. 

Soren Stevenson is the new council member for Ward 8, which covers south central Minneapolis, including George Floyd Square. Jenkins, who was not part of the progressive majority, had worked as a staff member for the council since 2001 before she was voted to the Ward 8 seat in 2017. She narrowly defeated Stevenson last election. 

Stevenson is endorsed by the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America and the Minneapolis DFL. With experience as an outreach worker with homeless people, Sorenson has campaigned on what he says is a more compassionate approach to addressing unsheltered homelessness. He also pushes for police accountability from the perspective of someone who 

 when police hit him with a projectile while protesting the murder of George Floyd. 

Jamison Whiting cruised to victory in Ward 11, beating his primary challenger by more than 4,500 votes. He takes the seat left open by Emily Koski, who briefly ran for mayor before pulling out of the race. 

Koski, who began her tenure more moderate before more frequently voting with the progressive majority, endorsed Whiting. He was also endorsed by the Frey-aligned PAC All of Mpls, while also gaining the support of progressive Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley. 

Whiting is a police reform attorney for Minneapolis whose work is related to MPD’s court-mandated changes. 

He joins a council that has frequently pushed the mayor and police department for more transparency around policing and who have used legislating to address reforms they say have not been urgently addressed by the city administration — including 

For the past two elections, council terms were two years, but this cast of city leaders will be locked in for the next four years. The new term begins in January. 

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Cari Spencer

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Minneapolis voters returned most incumbents but added four new city council members, ending the council’s veto-proof majority and shifting dynamics for the next four years.

Who is on the Minneapolis City Council for the next four years?

Members of a city council sit at a long table

Who is on the Minneapolis City Council for the next four years?

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