Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh, a far-left candidate for Minneapolis mayor who drew comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, came up short in his effort to cement the city as a socialist stronghold.
The Associated Press called the race for incumbent Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday afternoon, after final round results were tabulated using ranked choice voting (RCV). In the first round of balloting, Frey had received 41.7% of the vote compared with Fateh’s 31.6%, with other candidates splitting the remaining vote, according to the AP.
When RCV was tabulated, Frey had 53.0% of the vote to Fateh’s 47.0%.
Frey, an establishment-backed Democrat running for a third term, faced 14 challengers in the mayoral election, some of whom argued the incumbent was not progressive enough. The incumbent mayor’s victory is likely to be viewed as a notable defeat for the Democratic Party’s far-left flank despite socialists securing a massive achievement in New York City with Mamdani’s win.
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz —the party’s failed 2024 vice presidential nominee — and Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar both endorsed Frey for reelection. Meanwhile, Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents the entirety of Minneapolis in the House, endorsed Fateh.
Minneapolis uses ranked-choice voting and several far-left candidates in the race urged their supporters to rank each other in an attempt to defeat Frey.
Fateh, who is of Somali descent, would have been the city’s first Muslim mayor. He sparked controversy in August for suggesting that his top priority if elected mayor would be defending illegal immigrants from “a hostile federal government.”
Fateh was viewed by some political observers as the “midwest Mamdani” due to both candidates’ similar backgrounds and political views.
Both socialist candidates have previously called for defunding the police, pledge to enact a tax hike on wealthy residents and are vocal critics of Israel.
One of Fateh’s campaign proposals would divert half of 911 calls to “non-police responders” and he backed a 2021 ballot measure to defund the police and replace law enforcement with “peace officers.”
Frey, however, has argued the city needs more police officers and notably praised the Minneapolis Police Department for surpassing 600 personnel in June.
“Here’s the truth: We also need more police officers to be able to handle these situations,” Frey said. “When you have less officers per capita than virtually any city in the country, you need to do the necessary work to increase that.”
Frey led Minneapolis during the Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd, which triggered a violent crime surge and police exodus in the city. He notably knelt at Floyd’s casket during the career criminal’s June 2020 memorial service in the city.
The incumbent mayor has managed to hold onto power despite calls from the far-left to abolish the police or dramatically reduce their presence in the city.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Minnesota’s highest-ranking Republican, framed the prospect of a Fateh victory as unleashing “pro-illegal alien, communist chaos” onto the city, during an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation in August.
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