Minneapolis Dems Endorse Democratic Socialist Fateh for Mayor Over Incumbent Frey

Omar Fateh—a democratic socialist Minnesota state senator and son of Somali immigrants running for mayor of Minneapolis—on Saturday won the endorsement of the city's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, an affiliate of the national Democratic Party, which chose him over two-term incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that Fateh (DFL-62) won at least 60% of the Minneapolis DFL delegate vote in what is the party's first-ever mayoral endorsement.

"Today we witnessed a rejection of politics as usual, a rejection of the inhumane way we have been treating our unhoused neighbors, a rejection of the way our mayor has turned his back on labor," Fateh said following the vote. "Yes, we secured the DFL endorsement, but we know the status quo are going to do anything and everything to maintain power. They'll have all the money in the world, they'll have all the influence in the world—but they don't have you."

Frey campaign manager Sam Schulenberg said in a statement that "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."

According to the Star Tribune, "confusion and distrust over electronic balloting snarled" much of the endorsement process, but there was no indication that this favored any candidate.

"Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and the leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey," Schulenberg added. "We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November."

Among the dozens of bills authored by Fateh are a successful proposal to fund tuition-free public colleges and universities and tribal colleges for students from families with household incomes below $80,000, including undocumented immigrants, and another measure that exempted fentanyl test strips from being considered drug paraphernalia.

Fateh was also the chief state Senate author of a bill that would have ensured that drivers on ride-hailing applications like Uber and Lyft were paid minimum wage and received workplace protections. Although the bill was approved by both houses of the state Legislature, it was vetoed by DFL Gov. Tim Walz, sparking widespread outrage among progressives.

Numerous progressive state and local elected officials have endorsed Fateh, as have the hospitality union Unite Here! Local 17, Service Employees International Union Minnesota, and the Twin Cities branches of Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution, and Sunrise Movement.

Fateh's ascent has been compared to that of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, who is also a democratic socialist. Like Mamdani, Fateh has also been bombarded with racist, Islamophobic, and xenophobic hate by prominent right-wing social media users. Many haters have told the Washington, D.C.-born Fateh to "go back to Somalia."

The Minnesota branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations last week condemned these attacks and linked politically motivated hatred with the recent assassination of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-34B) and her husband, and shooting of John Hoffman (DFL-34) and his wife.

Hoffman phoned into the Minnesota DFL convention to endorse Fateh for mayor—a move that stood in stark contrast with New York Democrats including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who have not endorsed Mamdani.

"Schumer and Jeffries could learn a thing or two from Minnesotans," said Austin Ahlman, a reporter and researcher with the Open Markets Institute's Center for Journalism & Liberty.