Twin Cities Mayoral Races Highlight Progressive Shift

Ramsey County Elections will use open-source RCTab software to electronically reallocate ranked-choice ballots, allowing St. Paul to produce a mayoral winner the same night for the first time. In Minneapolis, incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey is seeking a third term against a crowded field of about 14 challengers, with State Sen. Omar Fateh — joined among leading contenders by minister DeWayne Davis and businessman Jazz Hampton — emerging as his principal progressive challenger. Fateh has proposed policies including a $20 minimum wage, rent stabilization and alternatives to policing, and his candidacy generated controversy during the DFL endorsement process. Public safety, homelessness and police staffing remain dominant voter concerns after George Floyd’s murder; Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has increased sworn staffing to above 600 even as the department remains under federal and state oversight. Together the Twin Cities races highlight debates over democratic socialism, housing and public-safety policy and the growing role of ranked-choice voting in deciding multi-candidate contests on election night.