Rochester Mayor Kim Norton announces she will not seek reelection this year
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Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, the city’s first female mayor, announced Monday that she will not seek a third term, leaving a seat open in the November election.
Norton, 68, has led the state’s third largest city since 2019 and has served in elected roles for nearly 26 years — serving first on the Rochester Public School Board, then representing District 25B in Rochester as a DFL state legislator before taking on the mayoral office.
“Rochester is kind of the economic engine of the state right now, and that’s something to be proud of,” Norton told MPR News Monday. “The future is really bright for our community. I hope somebody picks up the reins and moves forward and keeps Rochester the wonderful city that it is.”
Candidate filing doesn’t begin until May, but Norton says she’s gotten calls from people in the community considering a run for office. So far, small business owner Benjamin Zastrow is the only one to publicly announce plans to run for mayor. Zastrow, who announced his plans in November, said he plans to focus on expanding housing affordability, help struggling small businesses and improve dialogue between City Hall and residents.
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Of the three city council seats that will be on the November ballot, at this time only one member has announced he will seek reelection. The other two incumbents say they will announce whether or not they will run for reelection closer to the May candidate filing period.
Norton told MPR News that she gave the decision a lot of thought, especially because she’s leaving in the midst of so many large projects that she helped secure funding for — like Destination Medical Center, a 20-year, $5 billion economic development effort to transform the area around Mayo Clinic’s main campus.
Norton said the project is near and dear to her heart and that it is especially difficult to leave office prior to its completion. She introduced the bill as a legislator, and she said it’s one of the reasons she chose to run for mayor, so she could serve on the DMC board and help guide the massive development plan.
“[I wanted] to make certain that the things we said at the legislature... actually came to fruition and benefitted not just Mayo Clinic, and not just the people who visit Rochester, but the people who live here every single day,” Norton said. “That’s something I feel really strongly about and will continue to work on as long as I'm mayor, ‘til my last day, just to make sure that we spend that money responsibly and and for the betterment of the community.”
Norton said one of her other proudest accomplishments includes the work she’s done to upgrade the community’s park and trail system, including revamps of Soldiers Field, Silver Lake and Cascade Lake.
Rochester City Council President Randy Schubring said that whoever takes on Norton’s role will have big shoes to fill.
“One of the the key roles of the mayor of Rochester is to really be Rochester's key cheerleader and main spokesperson for the city at the state level and the national level and the international level, and Mayor Norton has done that, fulfilled that role to the nth degree,” Schubring said. “She is an amazing spokesperson for what we have to offer here in Rochester, the growth of Rochester and what this city represents. And so I really am going to miss her.”
Norton herself says she hopes candidates will step up who can help champion the city as it continues to grow and become more diverse.
“It's a really exciting time in our city, but with that excitement and that change comes a lot of challenge [sic],” Norton said. “So I want that person to be a strong leader and provide the guidance that the community really expects.”
Norton said she also hopes that the November election will bring in more diverse city leadership that will more accurately represent Rochester changing demographics. That was part of her hesitation with leaving.
“The seven voting members of the council are all men. They're all white, and we have a very diverse community, and so as the first woman mayor to walk away and leave it all back to the men,” Norton said. “It’s just hard. That's just a struggle that I've had, but we have to trust the voters, right?”
Rochester’s election will take place Nov. 3, and Norton will continue to serve as Mayor until January 2027.
