Counter to the idea that municipal election turnout is light, Northeast and St. Anthony residents turned out in force on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to exercise their right to vote.
Minneapolis Mayor
In the mayoral race, Minneapolis voters returned incumbent Jacob Frey to the office. In Ward 1, voters in the Bottineau, Holland, Logan Park, Northeast Park and Mid-City Industrial precincts went for challenger Omar Fateh. Frey led in Columbia Park, Marshall Terrace, Waite Park, Audubon Park and Windom Park. In Ward 3, Frey won in St. Anthony West, Northeast Park and Windom Park, while Fateh attracted voters in Sheridan, St. Anthony East, Beltrami and Marcy Holmes.
The “vote for the mayoral triumvirate” of Fateh, DeWayne Davis and Northeast business owner Jazz Hamilton tried to capitalize on ranked-choice voting. Davis received 20,383 votes; Hampton, 15,305 citywide.
A spokesperson for the Frey campaign noted, “Our campaign is proud to not just to have won Northeast Minneapolis, but to have done even better in Ward 3 than we did four years ago.”
They said Frey has definite plans: “One of the mayor’s priorities for his last term is to revitalize Nicollet Mall into a pedestrian-oriented Main Street with smaller spaces that suit small and local businesses,” making downtown “less dependent on 9-5 office workers.”
“Minneapolis residents need us to budget responsibly, with a frugal focus on delivering excellent core city services. Funding untested and expensive new programs would require cutting core services or unsustainable tax hikes that will hurt homeowners and renters alike,” the spokesperson said.
Minneapolis City Council Ward 1
In the November 2023 election, incumbent Elliott Payne beat his opponents handily (Socialist Workers Party candidate Edwin Fruit received 7% of the vote). This time, Payne ran against newcomer Brian Strahan, who captured 3,565 votes; Payne got 7,876. Fruit received 661 votes.
Payne told the Northeaster, “I’m greatly looking forward to having a four-year term for the first time, which will allow me to spend even more time engaging in the community without constantly campaigning. In addition to continuing to host monthly office hours, monthly community 1-1s and regularly attending neighborhood association meetings, I look forward to hosting even more community forums like the fire safety meeting and community budget meeting we had in October.
“One of the biggest things Brian (Strahan) campaigned on was a better delivery of government services, and I would love to work with him on holding the Mayor and City administration accountable for delivery of those services given this government structure we have. I received a gracious email from Brian last week conceding the race and we already had a chance to exchange messages and I look forward to meeting with him when he’s ready.”
Payne said he will focus on public safety programs such as the community safety ambassador program on Central Avenue. “I’m also going to be focusing on ways to both have stiffer penalties for property owners intentionally neglecting vacant properties like the abandoned nursing home in Windom Park, and also incentives for the development of vacant lots and properties.”
Minneapolis City Council Ward 3
Michael Rainville also returns to his City Council seat. The Northeast native received 73.86% of the vote; challenger Marcus Mills garnered 25.7%. Rainville prevailed in all precincts in the ward.
Asked what he will prioritize this term, Rainville said, “My focus this term will be to continue strengthening public safety by keeping police recruitment successful until the police are at full strength, making sure the Minnesota Department of Human Rights settlement agreement is quickly implemented along with the policing changes that the City agreed to in the Federal Consent Degree and building off the tremendous success of the Behavioral Crisis Response program that diverts mental health crisis calls away from police to trained social workers. The program has its own vans and there is one van in each of the 5 precincts working 24/7 365 days a year.”
Throughout the ward he will seek to “build more housing of all types, deeply affordable, affordable and market rate.” He plans to be involved in the redevelopment of the Graco and Star Tribune industrial sites, the rebuilding of 13th Avenue, and making sure “when the County rebuilds Marshall and Lowry and the State rebuilds University and Central, that the roads are not closed at the same time and the impact on Northeast is minimal.”
Mpls. Board of Estimate and Taxation
In the race for a seat on the Board of Estimate and Taxation, newcomer Eric Harris Bernstein captured 42,771 votes. Steve Brandt returns to the board with 35,843.
Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board District 1 Commissioner
Dan Engelhart (9,630 votes) defeated Dan Miller (6,573). Billy Menz, who currently occupies the seat, chose not to seek reelection earlier this year.
Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board At-Large Commissioners
Veteran commissioner Meg Forney returned for another term. She will be joined by incumbent Tom Olsen and newcomer Amber Frederick.
St. Anthony City Council
Despite a last-minute campaign to write-in former mayor Randy Stille, Nadia Elnagdy and Jan Jenson were returned to the city council with 1,334 and 1,305 votes, respectively. Jenson has served on the St. Anthony council for 16 years; Elnagdy will begin her second term in January 2026.
SANB School Board
St. Anthony and New Brighton residents in all four precincts voted almost equally for Annie Bosmans (1,545), Laura Haas (1,578) and Prachi Striker (1,551). In a special election to replace Ben Phillip, who resigned earlier this year, Daniel Turner received 1,152 votes to Michael Overman’s 915. Overman was an incumbent but chose to run for the shorter termed replacement seat instead of a full term.