Walz backs Frey’s reelection in Minneapolis mayoral race

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey may not have received the endorsement of the city’s DFL party but has landed the support of the state’s governor.

Gov. Tim Walz officially endorsed Frey for reelection on Thursday, throwing his support behind the two-term mayor over Minnesota Sen. Omar Fateh, who won the backing of the Minneapolis DFL earlier this month despite several challenges.

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“Mayor Frey is a partner I can trust to actually deliver progressive policies that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in a prepared statement. “Jacob has helped make Minneapolis a national leader on issues like housing, and I’ve been proud to work with him to deliver funding to hire more police officers and fight violent crime. I am proud to support Mayor Frey’s reelection so that we can continue working together to move Minneapolis into the future.”

The endorsement deepens what seems to be a growing divide in the DFL, with traditional party leaders like Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar having endorsed Frey over the locally endorsed Fateh, who is running as a democratic socialist.

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“There’s no question about it at this point. What we’ve really seen for the last several years is a significant split between what is the traditional DFL, plus sort of the socialist wing of the DFL, or we could call what the more centrist versus the more progressive,” David Schultz, a Hamline University political expert, told KSTP earlier this month. “Gradually, over time, we saw how the more progressive wing has captured lots of seats on the city council and has really been developing a solid grassroots strategy for many years.”

There are three other candidates running in this race: Brenda Short, who is a small-business owner; Jazz Hampton, a lawyer who created the TurnSignl app that provides legal advice to drivers at traffic stops; and Rev. DeWayne Davis, who is the lead pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church.
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