Minnesota Dems Endorse Socialist Omar Fateh for Mayor Over Incumbent Dem Jacob Frey

Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh won the Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party’s mayoral endorsement over incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey on Saturday night.

The Details: The endorsement was the first in any contested mayor's race by the Minneapolis DFL since at least 1997. However, the outcome faced criticism, with Frey supporters alleging that the party's online delegate voting system malfunctioned. Minneapolis DFL Party official Briana Rose Lee contested these claims, attributing any issues to slow devices and internet connections.

Key Quotes: "Today, we witnessed a rejection of politics as usual," Fateh said in his victory speech. "We know the status quo are going to do anything and everything to maintain power. They'll have all the money in the world … But they don't have you." Frey campaign manager Sam Schulenberg said in a statement,  "This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention."

For Context: Frey's defeat at the convention does not necessarily mean he will lose in the November election. In both 2017 and 2021, Frey finished second at the DFL conventions but emerged victorious in Minneapolis' ranked-choice general elections. However, his opponents argue that his leadership during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots and subsequent handling of police reform issues have not met the progressive expectations of many city residents.

How the Media Covered It: Axios (Lean Left) focused on the process and the controversy surrounding the convention's online delegate voting system. The outlet also highlighted Fateh's achievement as a major coup for critics of Mayor Frey. The New York Post (Lean Right bias) was critical of Frey, emphasizing his leadership during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots and highlighting Fateh as a Somali-American socialist. Both The Post and an opinion by Oliver Bateman, who regularly contributes at RealClearPolitics (Lean Right) and Washington Examiner (Lean Right), published in UnHerd (Center), compared the result to Zohran Mamdani's recent New York mayoral Democratic primary win.

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.