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Situation Report: Twin Cities Local Races

This year, Saint Paul and Minneapolis are having quite a few races at the local level. Who occupies these offices has a significant impact on immediate issues such as public transportation, educational quality, and, most relevant for Minneapolis, public safety.

General Overview

Minneapolis and Saint Paul are at the heart of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, where 60 percent of Minnesota’s population lives. Minneapolis is the economic and cultural heart of Minnesota, while Saint Paul is the political and administrative heart of the state.

Both Saint Paul and Minneapolis have grown considerably since 2010.

Minneapolis is about 60 percent white, with 40 percent people of color. Minneapolis’s population is just under 20 percent Black.

Meanwhile, Saint Paul’s population possesses a similar makeup.

In Minnesota, thanks to a party merger that happened in 1944, the Democratic party is known as the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, or DFL. Saint Paul and Minneapolis are both strongholds of the Minnesota DFL, and the two cities are a significant part of why Minnesota is still a blue state.

The Twin Cities carried Minnesota for President Biden and Vice President Harris. I am proud to say the Twin Cities helped save the Republic.

A critical fact to keep in mind is that the Twin Cities has some of the worst racial disparities of any metropolitan area in the United States.

Saint Paul and Minneapolis have two different city government systems as well. Saint Paul operates under the strong-mayor system, whereas Minneapolis operates under the weak-mayor system. In the strong-mayor system, the mayor acts as an executive and the council acts in a legislative manner. In a weak-mayor system, the city council holds the bulk of the power.

I will be looking at the mayoral races in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the city council races in Minneapolis, and some school board races in Saint Paul.

Saint Paul

The main race in Saint Paul is the mayoral race.

Mayor Carter of Saint Paul won the first round in a municipal election by ranked-choice voting. By contrast, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis only won after several rounds of ranked-choice voting.

Not only is Mayor Carter quite popular in Saint Paul (among consistent voters, anyway), but he also has done a good job with some really tough challenges.

In addition, Mayor Carter was endorsed by one of his toughest competitors during the 2017 mayoral race, former Saint Paul City Council Member Pat Harris.

His 2020 budget managed to avoid raising taxes on a population already hard hit by COVID-19 and the unrest triggered by George Floyd’s murder. Plus, Mayor Carter was able to manage Saint Paul’s budget without laying off any staff.

I will add the caveat that some services got slashed in the process.

Mayor Carter has a massive advantage in both political and financial capital.

To be clear, Mayor Carter is not universally popular across Saint Paul, and the state of Saint Paul is not perfect. But he is popular enough with people who consistently vote that I think he will have an easy reelection.

He has challengers to be sure, but they are not very well known and are well behind the mayor in terms of being prepared for a campaign.

Out of everyone running in Saint Paul, I am most proud to endorse Mayor Melvin Carter III. There are few elected officials I trust more than him.

Saint Paul’s school board is having an election as well. With several school board members retiring (and school board member Marny Xiong dying from COVID-19 in the summer of 2020), this will be an interesting race.

One of my acquaintances, Uriah Ward, is running for school board. Because of his experience serving as a teacher in North Carolina with a diverse student body, I think he would be an invaluable member of the school board.

Jim Vue is a current school board member who got appointed after Marny Xiong died. Because of his no-nonsense attitude and experience as a parent of color with autistic kids, he has my endorsement as well.

After talking with a close friend of mine, I have decided to endorse Halla Anderson as well. Not only does she have an in-depth understanding of education equity issues, but she also is well connected to the current Saint Paul school population.

Last but not least, I am endorsing James Farnsworth. Not only is he endorsed by my favorite Saint Paul City Council member, but he has excellent organizational skills as well. This will be essential for helping Saint Paul students recover from the educational impact of COVID-19.

However, I will include links for the other candidates so you can all judge for yourselves.

Minneapolis

Mayor Jacob Frey is up for reelection, as is the entire Minneapolis City Council.

Thanks to a combination of George’s Floyd’s murder, longstanding problems with the Minneapolis Police Department, the COVID-19 pandemic hitting Minneapolis particularly hard, and the structure of the Minneapolis city government, I am expecting the Minneapolis elections to get markedly nasty.

Mayor Frey has far fewer challengers than I was expecting, though this probably has more to do with the fact that few people want to be mayor of Minneapolis right now.

Community activist Sheila June Nezhad, former DFL legislator Kate Knuth, and veteran Philip Sturm are all challenging Mayor Frey.

I will need to do more research on the people running for mayor in Minneapolis. I have made it clear that I am very displeased with how Mayor Frey has done as mayor of Minneapolis, even though I like him as a person and I have serious reservations about the other three candidates. I will post information about the candidates below so you can chime in and decide for yourself.

But I am even more unhappy with the Minneapolis City Council. So I am not yet endorsing anyone for mayor of Minneapolis. It’s the same for the Minneapolis City Council races with one exception.

That exception is Tom Anderson, running for the Minneapolis City Council seat in Ward 2. He has the administrative and planning skills the Minneapolis Council sorely needs. Plus, we both have worked for Students United.

Candidates

George Floyd’s Murder

Although the trial of Derek Chauvin is taking longer than I thought it would, it will be over before well November 2, 2021, Election Day.

The murder of George Floyd hangs over every election and the racist behavior/culture inside the Minneapolis Police Department.

I am expecting a not guilty verdict, and how elected officials in both Saint Paul and Minneapolis react to this will have a significant impact on the electoral outcomes.

When it comes to dealing with the fallout, there are only bad options. It’s about picking the best one.

Stay tuned for a Situation Report about New Jersey and Virginia.
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