Minneapolis Mayoral Election 2025 Results
Minneapolis held its 2025 municipal election on November 4, using the city’s ranked-choice voting system to determine its next mayor. With 147,702 ballots cast—55% of registered voters—the city set a new record for municipal election participation, surpassing the previous turnout of 54% in 2021. The result: incumbent Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey secured a third term after a competitive race featuring 15 candidates, including progressive challenger Omar Fateh, a state senator and democratic socialist who drew national media attention and was frequently compared to New York City’s Zohran Mamdani.
In the final round of ranked-choice tabulation announced November 5, Frey captured 50.03% of votes (73,723) to Fateh’s 44.37% (65,377). Because no candidate surpassed the 50% threshold in the first-choice round—where Frey received 61,444 (41.76%) and Fateh 46,614 (31.70%)—second and third-choice votes were redistributed until a winner emerged. The margin reflected a narrower victory than expected by Frey’s camp, signaling that Minneapolis voters remain divided on fundamental issues from policing reform to housing affordability.
Minneapolis City Hall: The stakes of the 2025 mayoral race reflected tensions over public safety, housing costs, and police reform in Minnesota’s largest city.
Final Election Results
Record voter participation: Minneapolis surpassed its previous 2021 municipal election turnout record, reflecting high engagement among residents on key city issues.
How Minneapolis’ Ranked-Choice Voting Works
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference—up to three choices per race. In the mayoral contest, voters ranked their top choice, and optionally their second and third preferences. During the first tabulation round on election night, all first-choice votes are counted. If no candidate reaches 50% plus one vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and that candidate’s ballots are redistributed according to voters’ second and third-choice rankings. This process repeats with subsequent rounds of elimination and redistribution until a candidate crosses the 50% threshold. Minneapolis adopted RCV to ensure the eventual winner reflects the preferences of a true majority.
First Round vs. Final Round Vote Totals
| Candidate | First-Round Votes | First-Round % | Final-Round Votes | Final-Round % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Frey | 61,444 | 41.76% | 73,723 | 50.03% |
| Omar Fateh | 46,614 | 31.70% | 65,377 | 44.37% |
Key Race Insights
- Frey’s 50.03% final-round total exceeded his 49.1% performance in 2021, narrowly clearing the majority threshold
- At 147,702 ballots cast, Minneapolis set a municipal election record for votes, exceeding 2021’s total of 145,337
- The 55% turnout—up from 54% in 2021—placed Minneapolis among only two U.S. cities (alongside Seattle) that consistently achieve above-50% municipal election participation
- Fateh and allied candidates DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton formed a coordinated campaign urging voters to rank them and not Frey, but the strategy fell short of consolidating progressive support
- The race drew national attention, with media comparisons to Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialist campaign in New York City; Mamdani won his race on the same day
Voter engagement in Minneapolis reflects ongoing civic participation despite contentious debates over public safety, housing affordability, and police reform.
Jacob Frey: Three-Term Incumbent
Jacob Frey, 44, first assumed office in 2018 and was re-elected in 2021. As mayor, he led Minneapolis through one of its most turbulent periods: the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin. Following Floyd’s death, crime surged and hundreds of police officers retired or resigned from an embattled department. Frey’s administration pursued state and federal agreements to reshape the police department, negotiating accountability measures and reform initiatives.
Running for a third term on a platform of measured economic recovery and public safety improvement, Frey positioned himself as a pragmatist and moderate Democrat. He noted modest rent growth compared to peer cities and pointed to declining crime rates as evidence of progress. His campaign received significant financial backing from business-aligned political action committees, including All of Mpls.
Omar Fateh: Democratic Socialist Challenger
Omar Fateh, 35, is a Somali American state senator and democratic socialist seeking to become Minneapolis’ first Muslim and first Somali American mayor. He moved to Minnesota a decade ago and gained political prominence by defeating a well-established state senator in 2020. Fateh’s mayoral platform proposed aggressive interventions in housing and labor markets: raising taxes on high earners to fund affordable housing, imposing rent increase caps, raising the minimum wage, requiring ride-share companies to pay drivers higher minimum rates, and providing free tuition for lower-income students.
Fateh drew repeated comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who won New York City’s mayoral election on the same day. Both candidates come from immigrant families and share ideological commitments to wealth redistribution and expanded municipal services. During his state Senate tenure, Fateh had expressed support for police defunding and signed petitions supporting the 2020 Minneapolis ballot measure to dismantle and reconstitute the police department—positions that became liabilities in the general election.
Election Dynamics and Strategic Alliances
The 2025 mayoral field comprised 15 candidates, with Frey and Fateh emerging as clear frontrunners. Under Minneapolis’ ranked-choice system, front-runners faced a particular vulnerability: their opposition could coordinate around multiple alternatives, hoping to dilute the incumbent’s vote. This strategic logic motivated Fateh to form an alliance with two other significant candidates: Reverend DeWayne Davis (a faith leader) and Jazz Hampton (a business entrepreneur). The three candidates—representing different ideological wings of Minneapolis progressivism—agreed to appear together at campaign events and explicitly urged voters to rank all three while avoiding a first-choice vote for Frey.
The alliance reflected the competitive intensity of the race. During a debate on WCCO, Fateh stated: “These are the three best options right now,” referring to himself, Davis, and Hampton as the preferred alternatives. Hampton later clarified that the campaign message was not a formal “Don’t Rank Frey” directive but rather a preference that progressive voters consolidate around the three candidates in some order.
The strategy proved insufficient. Frey maintained enough first-choice support (41.76%) to weather the second-round redistributions, and as lower-finishing candidates were eliminated, their second and third-choice votes did not uniformly transfer to Fateh. Some Hampton and Davis voters ranked Frey second or third, fragmenting the anti-incumbent bloc. Frey expanded his vote total from 61,444 to 73,723 through this redistribution process—a gain of 12,279 votes—while Fateh added 18,763 votes, a narrower proportional growth that was insufficient to close the gap.
Public Safety and Police Reform
Minneapolis voters remain preoccupied with public safety and police accountability following George Floyd’s 2020 death. Frey’s record during his incumbency became central to the campaign. While crime rates have declined from their 2020-2021 peaks, they remain elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels. Frey’s administration pursued a path of police department stabilization—recruiting new officers, implementing accountability reforms negotiated with federal and state authorities, and maintaining departmental leadership continuity. The mayor vetoed council-proposed initiatives he deemed insufficiently measured, including a carbon emissions fee that progressives supported.
Fateh positioned public safety as integral to care, arguing that community-based interventions—mental health services, violence prevention programs, restorative justice—were superior to reactive policing. However, his past support for police department defunding became a campaign vulnerability. Some younger voters, particularly in university areas like Dinkytown, cited concern about Fateh’s prior “defund the police” advocacy when deciding to rank Frey first.
Housing Affordability
Both candidates centered housing affordability in their campaigns, but proposed divergent solutions. Frey argued that Minneapolis’ rent growth had lagged peer cities and pointed to housing supply initiatives undertaken during his tenure as evidence of pragmatic progress. Data from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve and rent indices support the claim that Minneapolis rent growth has trailed major U.S. cities in recent years, though housing remains unaffordable for many residents.
Fateh advocated for more interventionist policies: rent control measures, a local income tax on wealthy residents to fund affordable housing production, and mandatory affordable housing quotas in new development. These proposals resonated with younger, lower-income voters and renters but provoked concern among property owners and business interests about unintended consequences and competitiveness.
Economic Recovery and Labor Policy
The Minneapolis economy is still recovering from pandemic disruption. Commercial property values have eroded, pushing property tax burdens higher for many homeowners. Frey’s campaign emphasized continued stabilization and gradual improvement. Fateh proposed more aggressive redistribution: raising minimum wages, strengthening worker protections, and increasing corporate taxation to fund social services.
Minneapolis’ City Council remains controlled by a progressive majority that frequently disagreed with Mayor Frey, indicating continued political division during his third term.
Frey’s Third Term: Governing a Divided City
Frey’s narrow 5.66-point margin victory does not grant him a mandate, particularly given the Minneapolis City Council’s progressive composition. Since progressives gained control two years ago, the council has frequently clashed with Frey over policy direction. The mayor has vetoed multiple council initiatives, including a carbon emissions fee. The council proposed stricter regulations on ride-share driver compensation, though the legislature eventually enacted minimum pay standards after the initial local effort stalled.
Analysts expect Frey’s second term to require extensive coalition-building and negotiation with the council’s progressive caucus, which includes members aligned with democratic socialism. The council maintained narrow control of several seats in 2025, with moderate candidates retaining positions in some wards and progressive challengers succeeding in others. Neither bloc holds sufficient votes to override mayoral vetoes without cross-ideological support.
Frey will also manage the conclusion of his stated tenure as mayor—he has indicated this third term will be his final one, ending in 2029. This positioning may affect his leverage in intra-city negotiations and his relationship with potential successors.
Election Summary and Municipal Record
The 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election resulted in Jacob Frey’s re-election to a third term. Frey secured 50.03% of votes in the final round of ranked-choice tabulation announced November 5, defeating Omar Fateh’s 44.37%. The race was conducted under Minneapolis’ ranked-choice voting system, requiring a second round of vote redistribution after no candidate reached 50% in the first-choice count.
Municipal records confirm that 147,702 ballots were cast, representing 55% of registered voters and a new record for Minneapolis municipal elections. The previous turnout record was 54% in 2021, when 145,337 residents voted. Early voting contributed to record participation levels, and the election featured 15 mayoral candidates. The Minneapolis City Council is scheduled to certify final results on Monday, November 10, 2025.
The race centered on public safety, police reform, housing affordability, and economic recovery in a city still processing the impact of George Floyd’s 2020 death and the subsequent period of elevated crime. Frey positioned himself as a pragmatic moderate; Fateh campaigned as a democratic socialist advocating more aggressive wealth redistribution and municipal interventionism. The coalition strategy involving Fateh, DeWayne Davis, and Jazz Hampton—urging progressive voters to rank the three candidates and not Frey—did not achieve its goal of displacing the incumbent. Frey’s second term will require negotiation with a City Council controlled by a progressive majority that often disagrees with him on policy priorities.
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