Omar Fateh has worked with determination and strategy on policies that serve working people. . . . He is the type of leader we need at City Hall. He doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t fold and he doesn’t forget who he’s working for: you.
– Patricia Torres Ray
As a supporter of Omar and his mayoral campaign, I was happy to see Torres Ray’s endorsement, one that I share below in its entirety.
Minneapolis, let me tell you what I know about Omar Fateh.
I served alongside Fateh in the Minnesota Senate. From the very first conversation we had, I saw in him a determination and tenacious leader who refused to give up in the face of hardship or setbacks. He frequently reminded us of our duty to our constituents and the obligation to work harder to fulfill our campaign promises: to work harder for all of you.
Fateh came to the Senate determined to represent the voice of working people. He proposed to guarantee minimum wages for Uber and Lyft drivers who were getting poverty wages, to provide University of Minnesota graduate students with stronger union protections, and to make college in Minnesota not just affordable but free.
I supported these ideas, but I didn’t believe we could convince the majority of our peers to vote for all of these proposals. Fateh worked with determination and strategy on every one of these policies, and today they are the law for all Minnesotans.
He took on billion-dollar Silicon Valley corporations like Uber and Lyft, who were threatening to hold our state hostage, and won. Today, every driver in the state earns a living wage and has better protections.
He secured bipartisan support to offer free college tuition for students from working-class families. That is something few leaders anywhere in the country have managed to do.
Fateh wants to bring his political insight and tenacity to Minneapolis, and I believe our city needs his strength and political intuition to move us forward. He wants to build a safe Minneapolis where people can afford to live, raise their families, and start businesses. A place where seniors can keep their homes and age in place, and where all of us , despite ability, can access every corner of our city.
He wants to raise the minimum wage to $20 by 2028, listen to the voters and pass rent stabilization while still exempting new construction, and protect renters from eviction. These are real, tangible changes that can ensure families are not forced to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table.
Fateh believes public safety comes from care, not crackdowns. He secured $19 million for Minneapolis for public safety, which has remained untouched by the current administration. He will put those resources to work to implement consent decrees, diversify 911 responses and clear case backlogs.
I served with Fateh, have seen how relentless he is and know he is the type of leader we need at City Hall. He doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t fold and he doesn’t forget who he’s working for: you.
– Patricia Torres Ray
“Why Omar Fateh Is the Right Choice”
Minnesota Star Tribune
October 14, 2025
“Why Omar Fateh Is the Right Choice”
Minnesota Star Tribune
October 14, 2025
When MAGA extremists attack us, and also, at times, the establishment Democrats, it’s because they’re scared. They’re scared of the multiracial, working class coalition that has been rising up in Minneapolis and in Minnesota. And they’re scared of having a city where ordinary people have real power.
– Omar Fateh
Also yesterday, Omar was interviewed by journalist Mehdi Hasan on his podcast, Mehdi Unfiltered. It’s a very informative 24-minute interview, though I wish people would stop reffering to Omar as "the Mamdani of Minneapolis." Yes, while it's true that he and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani have similar progressive platforms, Omar Fateh is very much his own man. He deserves to be recognized and respected as such.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:21 Switching roles from senator to running for mayor
03:53 George Floyd
05:42 Palestine and antisemitism
08:46 Campaign policies
10:09 Charlie Kirk, facing racism and Islamophobia
16:06 What makes you qualified for mayor?
18:07 Revoked endorsement
21:28 Standing up to Trump
Related Off-site Links:
Minnesota Sen. Omar Fateh Says He Won’t Back Down Despite Islamophobic Threats – Brianna Kelly (Bring Me the News, September 25, 2025).
Four Candidates for Minneapolis Mayor Weigh In on Major Issues Facing the City – Jon Collins (MPR News, September 19, 2025).
People “Are Tired of Backroom Decisions”: A Conversation with Minneapolis’s Omar Fateh – Peter Lucas (The Nation, September 5, 2025).
Omar Fateh Has All the Right Enemies – Alex Skopic (Current Affairs, September 5, 2025).
State DFL tries to disenfranchise the City DFL – David Tilsen (Southside Pride, September 3, 2025).
Minnesota Democrats Stab Omar Fateh in the Back – Concernicus (August 27, 2025).
DFL Reverses Omar Fateh Endorsement – Left Reckoning (August 26, 2025).
Democrats in Minnesota Revoke the Mayoral Endorsement of Omar Fateh – I Am Blakeley (August 23, 2025).
The State DFL Spits on the Minneapolis DFL – Steve Timmer (LeftMN, August 23, 2025).
Minnesota DFL Revokes Endorsement for Omar Fateh in Minneapolis Mayoral Race – Naasir Akailvi (KARE 11 News, August 21, 2025).
Rep. Ilhan Omar Condemns Party’s Decision to Throw Out Fateh Endorsement – Torey Van Oot (Axios, August 21, 2025).
How Did This Happen? – Ed Felien (Southside Pride, August 5, 2025).
Minnesota Democrats Endorse Socialist Omar Fateh for Mayor Over Incumbent Democrat Jacob Frey – AllSides (July 21, 2025).
Who Is Omar Fateh? Mamdani of Minneapolis Faces MAGA Abuse – Kate Plummer (Newsweek, July 15, 2025).
CAIR-Minnesota Condemns Anti-Muslim, Racist Hate Targeting Sen. Omar Fateh Amid Rising Political Violence – CAIR-Minnesota (July 15, 2025).
Minneapolis Gets Its Own Mamdani – Kayla Bartsch (National Review, July 15, 2025).
Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Omar Fateh Faces Racist Trolling: “Go to Mogadishu” – Times of India (July 14, 2025).
Omar Fateh Will Work Across the Aisle If Elected Mayor – Melody Hoffmann (Southwest Voices, April 2, 2025).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• A “Racist and Factless Meltdown” Over Omar Fateh
• Omar | Jazz | DeWayne
• In His Efforts to “Build a City That Works for All,” Omar Fateh Secures a Key Endorsement
• Something to Think About – July 25, 2025
• The Longstanding Fault Lines Within the Democratic Party Have Surfaced Again in Minnesota
• Omar Fateh: “We Need to Meet the Needs of Working People”
• “Hopeful and Grounded”: Omar Fateh’s Vision of Democratic Socialism
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and Democratic Socialism
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – June 12, 2019
• Heather Cox Richardson on the Origin of the American Obsession with “Socialism”
• The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need”
• Something to Think About – December 14, 2011
• Jonty Langley: Quote of the Day – August 17, 2011
• A Socialist Perspective on the “Democratic Debacle” in Massachusetts
• Obama a Socialist? Hardly
• Obama, Ayers, the “S” Word, and the “Most Politically Backward Layers in America”
• A Socialist Response to the 2008 Financial Crisis
• Capitalism on Trial
• What It Means to Be a Leftist in 2025
• Ted Rall: “Democrats Are Not the Left”
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