2017 Minneapolis mayoral election

The 2017 Minneapolis mayoral election was held on November 7, 2017, to elect the Mayor of Minneapolis. This was the third mayoral election in the city's history to use ranked-choice voting. Municipal elections in Minnesota are nonpartisan, although candidates were able to identify with a political party on the ballot.

2017 Minneapolis mayoral election

← 2013 November 7, 2017 (2017-11-07) 2021 →
 
Candidate Jacob Frey Raymond Dehn Betsy Hodges
Party Democratic (DFL) Democratic (DFL) Democratic (DFL)
First round 26,116
(25.0%)
18,101
(17.3%)
18,915
(18.1%)
Final round 46,716
(57.2%)
34,791
(42.8%)
Eliminated

 
Candidate Tom Hoch Nekima Levy-Pounds
Party Democratic (DFL) Democratic (DFL)
First round 20,125
(19.3%)
15,716
(15.0%)
Final round Eliminated Eliminated

First preference votes by precinct
     Frey      Dehn      Hoch      Hodges      Levy-Pounds      Tie

Mayor before election

Betsy Hodges
Democratic (DFL)

Elected Mayor

Jacob Frey
Democratic (DFL)

No candidate achieved a majority in the first round of ballot counting on election night. Jacob Frey was declared the winner the next day after several rounds of vote tabulations.

Background

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2013 election

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Betsy Hodges was elected mayor of Minneapolis on November 5, 2013, out of a field of 35 candidates, with her term beginning on January 2, 2014. In response to the large candidate field, the Minneapolis Charter Commission approved a referendum increasing the filing fee from $20 to $500.[1] The proposal was approved by voters on November 4, 2014.[2]

Campaign

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In a blog letter dated November 7, 2016, a housing activist and longtime Minneapolis resident known as Captain Jack Sparrow announced his candidacy for mayor in the 2017 election; this was his third election campaign for office in the past 6 years.[3] Nekima Levy-Pounds, an attorney, civil rights activist, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, was one of the first candidates to begin their campaign, with an announcement on November 14, 2016. Hodges announced her re-election campaign on December 15, 2016. City Council member Jacob Frey and filmmaker Aswar Rahman entered in early January, while State Representative Raymond Dehn and theatre executive Tom Hoch announced their campaigns in February.[4][5][6] David John Wilson, an active member of the Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, entered the race during the candidate filing period in August 2017, but he declined to identify by party affiliation in favor of the stated principle "Rainbows Butterflies Unicorns".[7] Ian Simpson ran under the platform of the Idea Party, which asks the citizens of Minneapolis to pitch in their own creative solutions for change.[8][9]

Formal candidate filing began on August 1, 2017. Political parties held caucuses and conventions in the spring and summer, deciding whether to endorse a candidate for election. The DFL did not endorse a Minneapolis mayoral candidate at its July 2017 convention.[10]

On October 27, the Star Tribune editorial staff endorsed Jacob Frey for mayor.[11] This was followed by an endorsement of Frey by the Minnesota Daily on October 30.[12]

Candidates

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Democratic-Farmer-Labor

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  • Raymond Dehn, State Representative (District 59B)[13][14]
  • Al Flowers, community activist[15][16][17]
  • Jacob Frey, City Council member (Third Ward)[18]
  • Tom Hoch, former president of the Hennepin Theatre Trust, former deputy executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority[19][20]
  • Betsy Hodges, incumbent mayor[21][22]
  • Nekima Levy-Pounds, civil rights activist, former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, founding director of the Community Justice Project at the University of St. Thomas law school[23][24][25]
  • Jeffrey Sterling Olson[16]
  • Aswar Rahman, filmmaker, businessman[26][13]
    • Suspended campaign on November 2, 2017, and subsequently endorsed Jacob Frey.[27]
  • Gregg Iverson, retired employee of Minnesota Department of Transportation[28][29]

Independent

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Farmer Labor

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  • Troy Benjegerdes[33]

Basic Income Guarantee

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  • Captain Jack Sparrow, urban housing and Occupy movement activist[3][29]

Socialist Workers Party

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Libertarian

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Rainbow, Butterflies, Unicorns

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The Idea Party

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  • Not pictured: Jeffrey Sterling Olson, David Rosenfeld L.A. Nik

Results

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No candidate achieved a majority in the first round on election night. Several rounds of vote transfers were necessary to determine a winner, a process which did not start until the next day.[36]

Candidates whose total votes in all ranked positions are less than the highest votes in first rank are immediately eliminated. In 2017 five candidates remained for the sequential elimination process.

Votes by ranking of candidates above 2%[37]
Candidate/Votes by rank 1 2 3 Total
Jacob Frey 24.97% 19.90% 14.39% 59.26%
Tom Hoch 19.27% 18.67% 13.22% 51.16%
Betsy Hodges (incumbent) 18.08% 16.57% 21.57% 56.22%
Raymond Dehn 17.34% 16.51% 14.04% 47.89%
Nekima Levy-Pounds 15.06% 17.43% 16.31% 48.80%
Other or none 5.28% 10.92% 20.47%

With four rounds of elimination, Jacob Frey was announced as the winner on Wednesday, November 8, at 2 pm, 18 hours after the polls closed.[38]

Runoff round tabulation[39]
Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
votes
(% of active)
transfer votes
(% of active)
transfer votes
(% of active)
transfer votes
(% of active)
transfer votes
(% of active)
Jacob Frey 26,116 25.0% +634 26,750 26.3% +2,730 29,480 29.5% +9,888 39,368 42.1% +7,348 46,716 57.2%
Raymond Dehn 18,101 17.3% +473 18,574 18.2% +5,454 24,028 24.1% +3,330 27,358 29.2% +7,613 34,971 42.8%
Betsy Hodges (incumbent) 18,915 18.1% +552 19,467 19.1% +4,044 23,511 23.6% +3,364 26,875 28.7% −26,875
Tom Hoch 20,125 19.3% +787 20,912 20.5% +1,842 22,754 22.8% −22,754
Nekima Levy-Pounds 15,716 15.0% +473 16,189 15.9% −16,189
Charlie Gers 1,233 1.2% −1,233
Aswar Rahman 756 0.7% −756
Al Flowers 711 0.7% −711
L.A. Nik 612 0.6% −612
David Rosenfeld 477 0.5% −477
Captain Jack Sparrow 438 0.4% −438
Gregg A. Iverson 335 0.3% −335
Ronald Lischeid 325 0.3% −325
David John Wilson 220 0.2% −220
Troy Benjegerdes 184 0.2% −184
Undeclared Write-ins 138 0.1% −138
Ian Simpson 119 0.1% −119
Christopher Robin Zimmerman 1 0.0% −1
Theron Preston Washington 0 0.0% 0
Active Ballots (% of Valid) 104,522 100% 101,892 97.5% 99,773 95.5% 93,601 89.6% 81,687 78.2%
Exhausted Ballots (% of Valid) 0 0.0% +2,630 2,630 2.5% +2,119 4,749 4.5% +6,172 10,921 10.4% +11,914 22,835 21.8%
Total Valid Ballots 104,522 104,522 104,522 104,522 104,522
  • Turnout: 105,928
  • Undervotes: 1,406 (1.3%)
  • Valid ballots: 104,522

Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services[40]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Rao, Maya (July 3, 2014). "Minneapolis residents to vote on $500 fee to run for mayor". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  2. ^ Golden, Erin (November 4, 2014). "Minneapolis voters scrap alcohol ratios, raise filing fees". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Letter to Residents of Minneapolis Regarding My Campaign for Mayor of Minneapolis in 2017". Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "Council Member Jacob Frey Announces Bid for Mayor of Minneapolis". Star Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "With an Eye on the Budget, Young Filmmaker Joins Mayor's Race". Southwest Journal. January 6, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  6. ^ "Tom Hoch Enters Race for Minneapolis Mayor". Star Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  7. ^ Wilson, David John (October 3, 2017). "Why is David John Wilson Running for Minneapolis Mayor". Retrieved October 3, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ a b "HOME". ideaparty.org. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  9. ^ a b TEGNA. "Ian Simpson". KARE. Retrieved October 26, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Minneapolis DFLers fail to endorse mayoral candidate". startribune.com.
  11. ^ "Editorial endorsement: Jacob Frey for Minneapolis mayor". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  12. ^ "Editorial: The Minnesota Daily's Endorsement for Minneapolis Mayor". Minnesota Daily. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Belz, Adam (December 21, 2016). "State Rep. Raymond Dehn to Run for Mayor of Minneapolis". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  14. ^ "Home". Raymond Dehn for Minneapolis. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  15. ^ "July 27: Arrest of Minneapolis community activist Al Flowers stirs anger". startribune.com.
  16. ^ a b "Minneapolis DFL". mpls.dfl.org. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  17. ^ "Al Flowers for Minneapolis Mayor | Bringing Truth to the People". truthtothepeople.com. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  18. ^ Belz, Adam (January 3, 2017). "Council Member Jacob Frey Announces Bid for Mayor of Minneapolis". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  19. ^ "Tom Hoch Joins Mayor's Race". Southwest Journal. February 21, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  20. ^ Belz, Adam (February 21, 2017). "Tom Hoch Enters Race for Minneapolis Mayor". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  21. ^ Nelson, Emma (December 15, 2016). "Hodges Announces Re-election Bid as Mayor of Minneapolis". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  22. ^ "Mayor Betsy Hodges for Minneapolis | Deliberate, Intentional Leadership". Mayor Betsy Hodges for Minneapolis. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  23. ^ Furst, Randy (November 16, 2016). "Civil rights Activist Nekima Levy-Pounds to Run for Mayor of Minneapolis". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  24. ^ "NAACP Head Nekima Levy-Pounds to Leave St. Thomas Law School". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  25. ^ "Nekima Levy-Pounds for Mayor of Minneapolis". Nekima Levy-Pounds For Mayor of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  26. ^ Rahman, Aswar (October 3, 2017). "Aswar Rahman". linkedin.com.
  27. ^ Belz, Adam (November 2, 2017). "Aswar Rahman Suspends Campaign for Minneapolis Mayor, Endorses Jacob Frey". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  28. ^ "Gregg A. Iverson". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  29. ^ a b c d Belz, Adam; Jessie, Van Berkel (August 15, 2017). "23 Candidates File to Run for Mayor in Minneapolis, St. Paul". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  30. ^ Zurowski, Cory (August 17, 2017). "L.A. Nik, 'Mayor of Minneapolis After Dark' Seeks Day Job as Actual Mayor". City Pages. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  31. ^ Horgan, Tom (November 24, 2011). "Nightlife: LA Nik at night". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  32. ^ "KQRS' Tom Barnard enters National Radio Hall of Fame, praised for 'no B.S. swagger'". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  33. ^ Kritzer, Naomi (September 12, 2017). "Mpls Mayoral Race: Benjegerdes, Dehn, Fry, Flowers". Naomi Kritzer's Blog. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  34. ^ "Socialist Workers Party Steps Up Campaigning Across the Country". The Militant. www.themilitant.com. July 24, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  35. ^ Unicorns, David John Wilson for Minneapolis Mayor 2017 - Rainbow Butterflies. "Candidate for Mayor Election 2017 Rainbows Butterflies Unicorns, 2017 Election - Rainbows, Butterflies and Unicorns - Minneapolis, Minnesota | David John Wilson for Minneapolis Mayor 2017 - Rainbow Butterflies Unicorns". David John Wilson for Minneapolis Mayor 2017 - Rainbow Butterflies Unicorns. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  36. ^ Smith, Mary Lynn (November 8, 2017). "Melvin Carter is St. Paul's New Mayor; Jacob Frey Leads in Minneapolis". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  37. ^ "Home - Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  38. ^ "Jacob Frey wins mayor election in Minneapolis". startribune.com.
  39. ^ "2017 Mayor Election Results Tabulation - Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services". vote.minneapolismn.gov.
  40. ^ "2017 Minneapolis Election Results: Mayor Ranked-Choice Voting Tabulation Summary". Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
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