A Minnesota state legislator is the first to officially enter the open 2026 race to be Hennepin County’s top prosecutor.
Rep. Cedric Frazier, 46, announced his campaign for Hennepin County Attorney on Monday in a YouTube video.
He would become the first Black county attorney in Minnesota if elected.
The race for county attorney in Minnesota’s largest county is open for the second consecutive election cycle after the current holder, Mary Moriarty, elected in 2022, announced she will not seek reelection after one term.
Frazier in his video announcement offered himself as a candidate who is qualified to fix a legal system that has failed society.
“When I look at our legal system right now, it’s clear that it continues to uphold failed policies that perpetuate cycles of violence, rather than promoting true healing for victims and meaningful accountability for perpetrators,” he said. “From the capitol to the courtrooms, we need leadership with proximity to the issues impacting our communities.”
Frazier represents District 43A in the Minnesota House, which includes the entire city of New Hope – where he lives with his wife Stella and their three children – and most of Crystal. He was first elected to the seat in 2020 and is serving his third term where he has previously been vice chair of the public safety and judiciary committees.
He is co-chair of the Minnesota House People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus alongside Rep. Liish Kozlowski of Duluth.
His day job is that of a staff attorney with the state’s powerful teachers’ union, Education Minnesota. State legislator roles are parttime where they are paid a salary of $51,750 and most of them have full time jobs elsewhere, as employees or business people.
Frazier is a native of Chicago who first came to Minnesota three decades ago to attend college on a football scholarship. He holds a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Minnesota, Morris and a master’s degree in urban studies and local government management from Minnesota State University, Mankato. His law degree is from William Mitchell College of Law.
Prior to his legislative career, he was a public defender in Hennepin County and also served a term on the New Hope City Council, becoming the first Black person in that city to do so. A role he says that prepared him for this time. as it helped him build “trust between the police department and the community.”
He wrote on X following his video announcement that growing up in the South Side of Chicago, where gang violence and drug trafficking were prevalent, the community watched as the justice system “failed the very people it claimed to serve.”
This background, which includes him losing loved ones to gun violence, is what he says equips hm to deal with the challenges of Hennepin County.
“I’ve worked to keep guns out of dangerous hands,” he said. “I’m running for Hennepin County Attorney because I believe that public safety starts with public trust, and leadership starts with listening.”
The county attorney manages a staff of over 500 and is responsible for setting priorities on which cases are to be prosecuted, in addition to providing legal advice and representation to the county government. The office has annual budget of $69 million.
The county attorney’s annual salary is currently $224,820 after the Board of Commissioners increased it last year from $195,065. It will rise to $231,564 in 2026. In comparison, the highest paid county employees are the county administrator, who pulls in $367,415.51 and the medical examiner who is paid $358,075.29.
Frazier’s campaign has posted an endorsement from Attorney General Keith Ellison on its website.
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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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