Those who arrived after Dangerous Man was at capacity were shuffled off to wait at the bar at Young Joni’s, where we might be summoned for a 6:10 p.m. speech by Jacob Frey in the parking lot January 3. Then the man himself, about to announce his bid for mayor, showed up to beckon them all back in to the brew pub. “We’re just going to pack ’em in, it’s only for 10 minutes.”
As eyeglasses and camera lenses fogged and unfogged, the lawyer-turned-enterprising Third Ward Minneapolis City Council Member leapt onto the bar and after introductory remarks typical of his public speeches about the Third Ward’s attributes, boisterously proclaimed he would be the candidate in 2017 “and in 2018 I will be mayor.”
They’ll get negative, he mused, “say I’m too young, too ambitious…well, we can use a little ambition in this city.”
“I deliver on my promises,” Frey said, citing residential growth and affordable housing. “We say yes in our back yard. You wanted a new school, we built it. Voting in a satellite precinct in your neighborhood. We reduced emissions by attaching fees to pollution.”
He forecasted a “big year ahead. It’ll be a team of happy smiling warriors that gets this thing done. Now I want you to put two things in your phones, April 4 is the caucus. Be there and drag five others with you. And June 24,” the DFL city convention where a mayor candidate would be endorsed.
As the night evolved and some of the crowd dispersed – fire marshals, you can open your eyes now – several people with clipboards accosted attendees asking for their commitment to caucus. (The idea of caucusing with one’s political party did not go away just because Minnesota changed to a presidential primary system. Caucuses are still the root of local party politics.)
It was a similar team of happy smiling warriors who steamrolled over Third Ward incumbent Diane Hofstede when Frey ran in 2013.
There were fewer people of color, proportionally, in the Tuesday crowd than at the 2013 convention, though some in key positions.
One observer noted that his support for Frey then was “more against Hofstede than for Frey.” Will this political season’s votes be FOR Frey or other opponents, or against current Mayor Betsy Hodges?
Opening remarks of Frey’s announcement explained that with a “weak mayor, weak council, weak manager” system the only way to get things done is with a coalition. “A present leader with a clear vision,” he said “we will do more than defend Minneapolis against Donald Trump,” with a coalition of inclusivity.
Hodges ran four years ago on an equity platform, yet has hit brick walls such as the city’s handling of the Fourth Precinct occupation.
One never knows whether attendees are actually in support or just seeing which way the political winds are blowing, but spotted at the event were several business and real estate people, council member Lisa Bender, school board members Rebecca Gagnon and Jenny Arneson. Current school board member and former Third Ward Council Member Don Samuels and wife Sondra arrived around 7 p.m. While we don’t know all DFL party operatives by sight, we’ll state that the most prominent and long-standing were not there.
One of the clipboard people stated that Frey has not yet picked a campaign manager. His website still reflects just the Third Ward campaign.
So far, others announcing that they’re running for mayor include activist Nekima Levy-Pounds, State Representative from North Minneapolis Raymond Dehn, current mayor and former southwest Minneapolis Council Member Betsy Hodges, and filmmaker/entrepreneur Aswar Rahman. A polling organization was also testing name recognition back in the fall, on Council Member Alondra Cano (who has stated she is not running) and Tom Hoch, recently resigned head of the Hennepin Theater Trust (unconfirmed).
According to mpls.dfl.org, the Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s website, three people have signed up to run for the Third Ward seat that Frey would not run for, in order to run for Mayor. They are Samantha Pree-Stinson, Justin Adams, and Maleah Otterson. Longtime community engagement and environmental activist Cordelia Pierson confirmed Sunday that she plans to run and will start making the rounds of neighborhood groups to listen, starting this week.
The city DFL endorsing convention for Ward 3 is May 6, before the endorsing convention for mayor. The candidate filing period for the 2017 Municipal General Election is August 1-15, 2017.
Below: Dangerous Man brewery was packed to the gills with Frey supporters on Jan. 3 when he announced he will be running for mayor in the next election. (Photo by Liz Jensen)