State Sen. Omar Fateh, the first Somali American and first Muslim to serve in the Minnesota Senate, announced his bid for Minneapolis Mayor on Monday at City Hall.
Minneapolis has only elected a Black mayor once before – in 1993 when Sharon Sayles Belton won and served two terms.
Sen. Fateh, a son of Somali immigrants, was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2020 and represents District 42 which includes the Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhoods of Minneapolis. He sent shockwaves in the political world when he announced his plan to challenge a powerful incumbent, and one of only two Black people on the Senart at the time, Sen. Jeff Hayden. He went on to win the DFL endorsement and ultimately defeated Hayden on the primary ensuring victory in the November election.
Making his official announcement at the city hall rotunda with supporters and the statue of the “Father of Waters” behind him, Fateh described the tenure of current Mayor Jacob Frey as one that is “failing” the people of Minneapolis.
“Minneapolis residents are working hard for the city that they love and they deserve a mayor that works as hard as they do,” Fateh said.
A member of the Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL), as the Democratic Party is known in the state, Fateh however self-identifies as a Democratic socialist, as do close to half of the 13-member Minneapolis City Council.
Answering questions from the media during his announcement, Fateh touted his bipartisan legislative accomplishments as a benefit in his quest for mayor of Minnesota’s largest city.
Among the accomplishments he called out were the North Star Promise Act that Gov. Walz signed into law. It guarantees free college tuition for students whose families had a yearly income of $80,000 in any of the state’s public colleges and universities. He chairs the Higher Education Committee in the Minnesota Senate.
Specific to the city of Minneapolis, he pointed out the $19 million he secured for the city for public safety. He was also the first lawmaker to push for legislation that increased the wages of Uber and Lyft drivers in 2023. The bill passed but Gov. Walz who until that time had never vetoed a bill as governor issued vetoed it. On May 28, 2024 Gov. Walz signed a new bill that sets pay minimums for the drivers. It went into effect on Dec. 1, 2024, a day before Fateh officially announced his bid for Minneapolis Mayor.
The current council is considered the most progressive in the city’s history, a fact Fateh said is one reason it deserves the right executive such as him that is equally progressive.
“As mayor, I’ll work with the progressive city council to achieve real wins for our neighbors and uplift those who are struggling to get by,” Fateh said.
Mayor Jacob Frey, and all 13 council members, are up for reelection in 2025. The city uses Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to elect its mayor and council members.
Fateh was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in nearby Virginia. He moved to Minnesota in 2015.
The first to announce that they will be challenging Mayor Frey was Rev. DeWayne Davis, with former Minneapolis City Council member Brenda Short following him. On Wednesday, current Councilmember Emily Koski also joined the race.
The last race for mayor in 2021 attracted 17 candidates and recorded the highest registered voter turnout. Under RCV, Mayor Frey received about 43 percent of first choice votes and prevailed with a final count of 53 percent in his favor after second and third choice ballots were allocated to him. The 2021 election also ushered in the current city council that has a majority people of color.
The Minneapolis City Council is a full-time council with elected members earning $109,846 a year and the mayor $140,814. Under Minnesota law it is classified as a Class A city (cities with populations of more than 100,000) with a “strong mayor” system.
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About Tom Gitaa Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.
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