Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey beat back a challenge Tuesday from Democratic Socialist Omar Fateh, whose far-left policy proposals have drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani. Frey, 44, rose to national prominence during the riots in the city after George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a white police officer in 2020. He had the most first-place votes with 41.8% Tuesday night. Fateh came in second with 31.7% in the first round. Minneapolis uses ranked-choice voting, and Frey ended up achieving a majority in the third round of tabulation on Wednesday. Fateh’s had 44.4%. The city’s Democratic party — the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) — initially endorsed Fateh, 35, the first Somali American and Muslim to serve in the Minnesota state Senate at their convention in July. However, Frey challenged the endorsement based on the DFL’s voting process, leading to its Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee to controversially withdraw support for Fateh.
