Brooklyn Center is one of Minnesota’s most diverse cities and membership of its city council has reflected that diversity over the last decade. The city elected its first Black mayor in 2018 when Mike Elliott won office. Elliott served one term before losing reelection in 2022 to April Graves, who became the city’s second Black mayor and the city’s first Black female mayor.
Currently, there are two Black members on the five-member Brooklyn Center City Council, including the mayor — Graves and council member Teneshia Kragness. Both of their terms expire after the November election.
Black leadership on the council could disappear after this year’s elections because of shifting political dynamics and the makeup of the candidate fields competing in the city’s mayoral and council races.
Graves is not seeking reelection after serving one term as mayor, though she previously served on the city council before defeating Elliott in 2022.
In total, the mayor’s office and two council seats are on the ballot this November — Kragness’ seat and that of council member Dan Jerzak.
The race to succeed Graves has attracted four candidates, three of them women. The field includes Kragness – a Graves ally, and fellow council member Laurie Ann Moore, newcomer Latrecia Mayo and Alexander Koenig, the lone male candidate in the race.
An Aug. 11 primary will narrow the field to two candidates who will advance to the November general election.
The race for the two council seats has attracted 10 candidates, including incumbent Jerzak. Several candidates in the field are people of color. An Aug. 11 primary will narrow the field to four candidates who will proceed to the November election.
The outcome of the Aug. 11 primary could play a major role in determining whether Brooklyn Center’s city leadership continues to reflect the demographics of one of Minnesota’s most diverse suburbs.
In the mayoral race, Kragness and Mayo are both seeking to become the city’s next Black mayor following Graves’ decision not to seek reelection.
The elections come at a potentially pivotal moment for representation in Brooklyn Center, where Black residents, African immigrants, Latinos and Asian Americans collectively make up a majority of the city’s population according to census data.
Of the two Black candidates running for mayor, only Kragness has prior experience running a citywide political campaign after serving one term on the council. She also comes from a political family. Her grandmother, former Mayor Myrna Kragness, was the city’s first female mayor and served from 1995 to 2006.
Graves has already endorsed Kragness. In remarks during a May 22 campaign launch shared with Mshale by a campaign aide, Graves said, “I am proud to endorse Dr. Teneshia Kragness as our next Mayor of Brooklyn Center. I believe she is the best person to continue advancing the work our community has fought so hard for. She leads with integrity, empathy, and a deep commitment to residents — with a head for the numbers and a heart for the people.”
Kragness has also attracted support from former Mayor Tim Willson and former state Sen. Chris Eaton.
As of the time of writing, Mayo did not appear to have a public campaign website or campaign social media presence, though she had posted a flyer on her personal Facebook page seeking volunteers and donations. The websites listed for Koenig and Moore were also not functioning at the time this story was published.
People of color make up nearly 70% of Brooklyn Center’s population according to census estimates. Black residents account for approximately 31% of the population, Hispanics 17% and Asians 15%. White residents account for about 31%.
The city of roughly 32,000 residents is also heavily immigrant, with 22% of residents born outside the United States. Census data shows the largest foreign-born population comes from Africa at 38%, followed by Latin America at 33% and Asia at 26%.
The city’s strong African immigrant presence is underscored by institutions such as the Kenyan Community SDA Church, believed to be the largest Kenyan church in Minnesota by membership. During protests following the police killing of Daunte Wright in neighboring Brooklyn Center, the church helped provide relief, shelter and assistance to injured demonstrators. The church sits adjacent to the Brooklyn Center Police Department campus.
According to census data, 64% of the city’s 11,572 housing units are owner occupied.
Brooklyn Center is also home to the corporate headquarters of Caribou Coffee and the FBI field office serving Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
An earlier version of this story stated former Mayor Myrna Kragness was Teneshia Kragness’ mother, she is her grandmother. We regret the error.
Author
About Tom 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 board of 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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