What happened with the November elections?
Everywhere there was a Blue Wave, a rejection of Trump and his policies. In New York City, an African immigrant, a Muslim, a Democratic Socialist, won the Mayor’s seat, but, in Minneapolis, an African immigrant, a Muslim, a Democratic Socialist, lost. Legislatures all over the country turned bright Blue, but, in Minneapolis, the City Council went from a nine vote DSA majority to seven DSA votes—just barely a majority. Why? What happened?
How could New York City, with all its ethnic prejudices and deep-pocketed special interests, elect Zohran Mamdani? And Minneapolis couldn’t elect Omar Fateh?
Well, first, Jacob Frey wasn’t Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo had a lot of baggage. He was abusive to women. He resigned in disgrace as Governor.
Money made a big difference. “All of Mpls,” a Frey-aligned PAC, raised nearly $1.6 million from landlords, developers, labor unions and the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. They used that money to run a non-stop smear campaign that had lots of mud and little substance.
Fateh responded by talking about rent stabilization, and a progressive income tax on residents who made more than a million dollars a year, and free college tuition for low income students. A lot of voters didn’t want to think about all that stuff, and they thought that with all that mud being thrown at Fateh—some of it would stick. They didn’t want to get themselves dirty, so they couldn’t vote for Fateh.
Early money made a big difference in the City Council races in Wards 5 and 7, and it cost the DSA-sympathetic bloc the two votes needed to override a mayor’s veto.
But money wasn’t enough to topple Aisha Chughtai in Ward 10, even though they outspent her three to one.
Another important factor that hurt Fateh’s chances was the discrediting of the DFL endorsement. The Frey campaign complained to the State DFL that there were more delegates registered than voted. Voting didn’t begin until late afternoon. Many delegates had left, exhausted by the delaying tactics of the Frey campaign, but there were still sufficient numbers to qualify as a quorum.
The Frey campaign knew how to count. They could see that they had no chance to get to 60% for endorsement, so they wanted to make sure no one else did either. They knew that when Jazz Hampton and DeWayne Davis were eliminated, their votes would go to Fateh. They tried to drag out the Convention with elaborate motions and vote-counting machinations. After the first vote for endorsement, Aisha Chughtai saw what was happening. She moved for a change in the rules that would allow visible counting of delegate’s hands to tally a second vote, after all candidates other than Frey and Fateh had been eliminated on the first ballot. If she wouldn’t have done that, the Convention would have had to adjourn at its designated time without an endorsement.
After the second ballot and the endorsement of Omar Fateh, the Frey campaign complained that DeWayne Davis had been unfairly eliminated from inclusion on the second ballot. If Davis had survived the first ballot with enough votes to qualify for the second ballot, he would most certainly have been eliminated in the second ballot, and his votes would have gone to Fateh on the third ballot. But that would have taken so much time that the Convention would have been forced to adjourn.
The Frey campaign took their complaint to the DFL State Central Committee. DFL Chair Ken Martin had just gotten promoted to Chair of the National Democratic Party. Tim Walz appointed Richard Carlbom as the new Chair of the State DFL. Carlbom had worked for Walz since 2007 as his Policy Director and fundraiser. Carlbom’s old firm, United Strategies, received $30,000 in consulting fees from the Frey campaign this year. Carlbom convened a committee that ruled that the Minneapolis DFL Convention was flawed. They revoked Fateh’s endorsement and put the Minneapolis DFL in receivership for two years, so none of their endorsements would be valid until reviewed by the State DFL hierarchy. Tim Walz then endorsed Frey for mayor.
The Minnesota DFL is a result of the merger of the Democratic Party and the Farmer-Labor Party in 1944 by Hubert Humphrey, so he could run for the U S Senate. The Democratic Party was conventionally liberal, and the Farmer Labor Party was radical and anti-capitalist. “Capitalism has failed and should be abolished. We mean to establish a Cooperative Commonwealth” – 1934 Farmer-Labor Party Platform. “I am what I want to be. I’m a radical. I’m not a liberal. We need a definite change in the system.” – Floyd B Olson, Farmer Labor Governor.
It seems the Democrats in charge of the State DFL wanted to break with the Farmer-Laborites in Minneapolis.
Maybe the radicals in Minneapolis should accept that challenge.
Maybe someone like Aisha Chughtai should challenge Walz for the DFL endorsement for Governor next year – articulating a progressive vision for Minnesota, and, in case she doesn’t win the DFL endorsement or the DFL Primary Election, maybe Robin Wonsley should run for Governor as an Independent in the Farmer-Labor tradition.
The State DFL has sown the seeds of discontent; they deserve to reap a harvest of nettles and thorns.
Jacob Frey was asked what he thought about the election, he said, “I do think the message that has been sent loud and clear is that we have to love our city more than our ideology.” In other words, we should accept the wisdom of our landlords and the Chamber of Commerce and forget about all that sharing and caring.
– Ed Felien
What Happened?
Southside Pride
December 2, 2025
What Happened?
Southside Pride
December 2, 2025
Related Off-site Link:
Throwing Mud at Fateh – Clint Combs (Southside Pride, December 2, 2025).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
OMAR FATEH
• 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
• Omar Fateh: A “Person-Centered Leader”
• Why Omar Fateh Is the Right Choice for Mayor of Minneapolis
• Omar Fateh on LGBTQ Issues
• Omar Fateh’s Grassroots Campaign for Mayor of Minneapolis
• The Rise of Omar Fateh
• Omar Fateh: A Mayor Who Will “Meet the Moment”
• Why Omar Fateh Lost
• Thank you, Omar!
ZOHRAN MAMDANI
• The Rational National’s Take on Zohran Mamdani
• A Timely and Important Conversation
• Zohran Mamdani and the Future of the Democratic Party
• Progressive Perspectives on Zohran Mamdani’s Win in New York City
• “A Case Study in How a Bully Behaves When He Can’t Rely on Fear”
• Matthew Cooke on the Real “Mamdani Effect”
• “The Answer, Actually, Is Hope”
• Butch Ware: Quote of the Day – November 26, 2025
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
• No, Hitler and the Nazis Weren’t Socialists
• What It Means to Be a Leftist in 2025
• Ted Rall: “Democrats Are Not the Left”
• Matthew Cooke on the Fallacy That Socialism “Doesn't Work”
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