Just over a month after winning the Minneapolis Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party’s mayoral endorsement, state Sen. Omar Fateh is back to square one.
Fateh, a progressive and the first Somali American and Muslim elected to the Minnesota Senate, won more than 60% of delegate support on the second ballot — enough to secure additional party resources on the campaign trail over Mayor Jacob Frey (D).
But that endorsement didn’t hold.
On Thursday, the Minnesota DFL pulled its support from Fateh. The party cited a serious failure in the convention’s electronic voting system, which missed about 95 valid ballots. That left the final count short by 176 votes.
In short, the numbers were unreliable — and the state DFL said it couldn’t stand behind them.
Minneapolis–St. Paul’s KARE 11 has additional details:
In the absence of a primary, Fateh’s endorsement is important because it means he will receive more party resources on the campaign trail, but it does not guarantee him a victory against Frey. The November general election is now shaping up to be a battle between Frey, a more centrist candidate, and Fateh, a progressive state legislator who is also endorsed by the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America.
Fateh’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. Mayor Frey, meanwhile, appeared publicly Monday afternoon at an event marking the reopening of the Stone Arch Bridge, but he left without taking questions or addressing his campaign’s challenge to the mayoral endorsement process (Frey’s wife, it should be noted, is due with their second child Monday).
The vote-counting errors created chaos and delays during the July convention. As a result, the state party also placed the Minneapolis DFL chapter on two years’ probation, requiring reforms and a plan to prevent future failures.
Mayor Frey later publicly backed the decision, saying he was “proud to be a member of a party that believes in correcting our mistakes.” He added he looked forward to a “full and honest debate” with Fateh about the city’s future.
Fateh’s campaign saw it differently. They called the move “disenfranchisement of thousands of Minneapolis caucus-goers and the delegates who represented all of us on convention day.”
Fateh may still appeal the decision. But for now, the endorsement is gone — and the mayor’s race is wide open again.
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