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Brooklyn Park launches initiative to bring small business center out of the shadows

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Tom Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
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People gather in the common area of the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center before the launch of BUILD in Brooklyn Park on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. The city is seeking to raise the profile of the center and connect more entrepreneurs with business resources, technical assistance and networking opportunities. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Brooklyn Park Small Biz Zenter Common Area on 8 20 26
People gather in the common area of the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center before the launch of BUILD in Brooklyn Park on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. The city is seeking to raise the profile of the center and connect more entrepreneurs with business resources, technical assistance and networking opportunities. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — For years, technology entrepreneur Cindy Hill has described the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center as a “hidden secret” — a place that impresses people once they walk through its doors but remains unknown to many of the entrepreneurs it was created to serve.

“I’ve been telling people for a long time, we have this hidden secret in Brooklyn Park,” Hill told Mshale on Thursday. “And we just need to start sharing it.”

The City of Brooklyn Park is now trying to do just that.

City officials on Thursday formally launched BUILD in Brooklyn Park, a new partnership with the Small Business Center aimed at raising its visibility and making it easier for entrepreneurs to find technical assistance, capital, business education, mentorship, networking and other resources.

The initiative comes as the taxpayer-supported center, which opened in 2023 at 7970 Brooklyn Blvd., seeks to increase occupancy and revenue after a bumpy start that has required continued financial support from the city.

Community Development Director Tim Gladhill said Thursday that the idea for BUILD grew directly from the realization that many people simply did not know the Small Business Center existed.

Tim Gladhill
Brooklyn Park Community Development Director Tim Gladhill speaks during the launch of BUILD in Brooklyn Park at the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Gladhill said the initiative grew out of the city’s realization that the center remained largely unknown within the community. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

“This actually started as a realization that this space that we’re in right now, the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center, was really unknown in our own community,” Gladhill said.

He said city officials heard stories of people traveling from communities west of Brooklyn Park, driving through the city on their way to coworking spaces in south Minneapolis. When operators of those facilities asked why they weren’t using the Brooklyn Park center instead, Gladhill said the response was often: “What is the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center?”

“We aim to really change that,” he said.

The 25,000-square-foot center occupies part of Northwinds Plaza, which the city purchased in 2021. It offers coworking desks, offices, conference and training rooms, wellness space and retail suites where entrepreneurs can test brick-and-mortar businesses.

In April, the center had about 118 members and was roughly half occupied, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The city was covering an annual funding gap of about $100,000 to $200,000, and officials said they wanted to raise occupancy to at least 80% and eventually make the center self-sustaining. The city spent about $4.5 million building out the center using grants, tax-increment financing revenue, $1 million in federal funding and other city dollars.

Gladhill did not provide updated occupancy or revenue figures Thursday, but said the center has made progress even before the formal launch of BUILD.

“We are already at an all-time high for occupancy and revenue growth in this center,” he said.

Gladhill also acknowledged the public investment required to operate the center, saying the city is using public dollars to support its operations and buildout even though running such a facility is not traditionally considered a core municipal service.

But he said city officials view the investment as important to Brooklyn Park’s residents, businesses and tax base.

The city said it will invest in staffing and other support for the Small Business Center as part of the new BUILD partnership.

‘Once I came through the doors’

For Hill, who has lived in Brooklyn Park for 37 years, the center’s potential was apparent before it opened.

Hill said she knew about the project from its inception and attended the center’s grand opening intending only to purchase a basic membership. Seeing the facility changed her mind.

“Once I came through the doors, I said, I need to move one of my businesses in here,” she said.

Hiltsley and Hill
Minnesota Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley, left, talks with technology entrepreneur Cindy Hill during the launch of BUILD in Brooklyn Park at the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Hill, who operates PSI Tech Support from the center, describes the facility as a “hidden secret” that more entrepreneurs need to discover. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

Hill moved PSI Tech Support, a five-year-old technology company she founded and majority owns, into the center. She and her husband also founded Programming Solutions 37 years ago, a technology company that develops customized systems for state and federal government clients.

Hill said decades of running businesses made her want to use her presence at the center to help entrepreneurs just starting out.

“I knew that I had something to give back to the people that were just starting out from the bottom,” she said.

That has included advising other entrepreneurs on business plans, forecasting, certifications, insurance, licensing and marketing.

Hill recalled helping a woman who operated a tea business a few offices away and sought her advice about marketing and online sales. Within about six or seven months, Hill said, the entrepreneur had gotten her products into her first grocery store.

“It helps when you see people that look like us, especially a Black woman that has been in business so long, to let them know, don’t give up on it,” Hill said.

She said people she brings to the center are often surprised by how much exists beyond the lobby and training area.

“Once you bring them on the other side of the wall, that’s when their eyes light up,” Hill said. “I didn’t know that this was here. Tell me more.”

A newcomer finds visibility

For Jannie Seibure, the Small Business Center’s appeal is much newer.

Seibure, who is originally from Liberia, moved her business, Cavala Travel and Tour, from Brooklyn Center to the Small Business Center about a month ago.

The travel agency provides travel services and sells luggage and other travel-related products. Seibure said the Brooklyn Park location has given the business something particularly important to a small company: visibility.

“It’s a strategic area,” she said. “As you can see, it’s highly populated and it draws traffic.”

Jannie Seibure
Jannie Seibure, owner of Cavala Travel and Tour, hands out business cards during the BUILD in Brooklyn Park launch at the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Seibure moved her travel agency from Brooklyn Center to the center last month and says the location and interaction with other businesses have increased her visibility. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

Seibure said being surrounded by other entrepreneurs also exposes her business to people coming into the center to visit other companies.

“I see it as a networking collaboration of businesses that are in here,” she said. “So my business becomes more visible to all the clients that come in to meet their businesses.”

She said she is also discovering resources available to small businesses through the city.

“I’m loving it so far,” Seibure said.

That type of awareness is precisely what state Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said the new initiative needs to create.

“Bringing resources home is only half of the question,” Hiltsley said during Thursday’s launch. “Because if somebody doesn’t know that those resources exist, they won’t even tap into those resources.”

Hiltsley, whose district includes the Small Business Center, said entrepreneurs need trusted community leaders who can tell residents that the center is a place where they belong and where their voices matter. She said BUILD could strengthen connections among entrepreneurs, community organizations, government, nonprofits and the private sector.

‘When our entrepreneurs succeed, Brooklyn Park succeeds’

Mayor Hollies Winston said the initiative is built around what he called a simple idea: “When our entrepreneurs succeed, Brooklyn Park succeeds.”

Starting and growing a business, Winston said, requires entrepreneurs to navigate financing, permitting, marketing, technology, workforce issues and finding customers.

“Through this partnership between the City of Brooklyn Park and the Small Business Center, we are working to bring resources, connections, technical assistance and opportunities closer to the entrepreneurs who need them,” Winston said.

EriksenStroebelDayMayorWinston
Brooklyn Park Councilmember Christian Eriksen, from left, City Manager Jay Stroebel, LS2group partner Corey Day and Mayor Hollies Winston talk during the launch of BUILD in Brooklyn Park at the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

He said strengthening small businesses is also part of the city’s effort to address economic disparities and position local entrepreneurs to benefit from future development, including Brooklyn Park’s planned BioTech Innovation District.

The city expects that development to bring thousands of jobs and significant construction activity, and Winston said Brooklyn Park needs a foundation of local businesses capable of participating in those opportunities and bringing the benefits back into the community.

Winston acknowledged that establishing the Small Business Center and other new economic-development efforts has not always been smooth.

“I know it’s been a little bit of a road and sometimes it’s bumpy,” he said.

But he said the ultimate measure of BUILD will not be how many programs the city offers.

It will be “the businesses we help grow, the jobs we help create and the opportunities we help open for the people who call Brooklyn Park home.”

Federal judge clears way for Trump administration to end TPS for Somalis

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Mshale Staff
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U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, left, speaks with attendees alongside U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, in blue with her back to the camera, following a news conference outside the Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center in Minneapolis on July 24, 2026. The center is across the street from the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which the two lawmakers had visited as part of their congressional oversight of immigration detention conditions. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, left, speaks with attendees alongside U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, in blue with her back to the camera, following a news conference outside the Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center in Minneapolis on July 24, 2026. The center is across the street from the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which the two lawmakers had visited as part of their congressional oversight of immigration detention conditions. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somalia, ending deportation protections for nearly 1,100 Somali nationals across the United States, as federal immigration data show enforcement against Somalis had already increased sharply before the court action.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston on Friday lifted an administrative stay that had temporarily prevented the Department of Homeland Security from ending Somalia’s TPS designation. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the termination became effective Aug. 14.

Temporary Protected Status allows eligible nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions to remain and work legally in the United States for limited periods. Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991 amid civil war and has remained covered through a series of extensions and redesignations for nearly 35 years.

The termination affects a relatively small share of the Somali population living in the United States. Reuters reported that nearly 1,100 Somalis held TPS when the court allowed the termination to proceed. Many other Somali immigrants are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees, asylees or hold other immigration statuses and are not affected by the termination.

Losing TPS also does not automatically mean that every former beneficiary will be deported. Some may have another immigration status or separate applications for relief that allow them to remain in the country. But those whose only protection against removal came through TPS no longer have that protection.

The ruling could have particular significance in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population in the United States.

ICE removals had already increased

The termination comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data show immigration enforcement against Somali nationals had already increased sharply before TPS protections were lifted.

During the first six months of fiscal year 2026, from Oct. 1, 2025, through March 31, ICE recorded 221 administrative arrests of Somali nationals, 237 detention book-ins and 133 removals, according to agency detention statistics published in July.

The 133 removals during the six-month period were already more than twice the 63 Somali nationals ICE reported removing during the entire 2024 fiscal year.

ICE also reported 82 detention book-ins involving Somali nationals during all of fiscal 2024, compared with 237 during the first half of fiscal 2026. Administrative arrests increased from 68 during fiscal 2024 to 221 during the first six months of fiscal 2026.

The figures are nationwide and do not show how many of those arrested, detained or removed lived in Minnesota. They also cover Somali nationals generally and do not identify how many, if any, were TPS holders.

Court challenge continues

The court ruling does not end the legal challenge to the administration’s decision.

African Communities Together, the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans and Somali TPS holders sued the administration earlier this year, arguing that the termination was improperly motivated by discrimination based on race and national origin.

The plaintiffs later amended their complaint to add due process claims and challenge whether the government official who terminated Somalia’s designation had the legal authority to do so.

Burroughs had previously blocked the termination while the case proceeded. But the judge lifted that stay Friday following a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited lower courts’ ability to review DHS decisions terminating TPS designations.

The Somalia action is part of a broader Trump administration effort to dismantle TPS protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries around the world. The administration has moved to terminate TPS for every country whose designation has come up for review since President Donald Trump returned to office, although court challenges have delayed some terminations.

Court filings in one of the TPS cases show that 13 countries had come up for periodic review since Trump returned to office and the administration moved to terminate the designation for all 13, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Other TPS designations remain in effect for now, including protections covering nationals of El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine.

The administration has argued that TPS was intended to provide temporary rather than permanent immigration protection and that conditions in countries whose designations it has terminated no longer justify continuing the program.

Immigrant-rights groups have challenged the administration’s decisions in federal courts, arguing in several cases that conditions remain dangerous and that the terminations were unlawful or discriminatory.

On Tuesday, Aug. 18, another federal judge in Boston cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate TPS for more than 5,000 Ethiopians. The ruling came after the same Supreme Court decision that affected the Somalia case.

Somalia continues to face armed conflict and attacks by al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant organization that has waged an insurgency against the Somali government for nearly two decades.

For Somali TPS holders, however, USCIS now lists the country’s designation as terminated effective Aug. 14.

Brooklyn Park mayoral, council candidates set for Aug. 27 election forum

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Mshale Staff
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Campaign signs for Brooklyn Park mayoral candidates Shelle Page, left, and incumbent Mayor Hollies Winston are displayed near the intersection of 85th Avenue North and Xerxes Avenue on primary Election Day, Aug. 11, 2026. Page and Winston advanced from the four-way primary and will appear on the November general election ballot. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Hollies and Shelle Yard Signs on Primary Election Day 8 11 26 by Tom Gitaa Mshale Newspaper
Campaign signs for Brooklyn Park mayoral candidates Shelle Page, left, and incumbent Mayor Hollies Winston are displayed near the intersection of 85th Avenue North and Xerxes Avenue on primary Election Day, Aug. 11, 2026. Page and Winston advanced from the four-way primary and will appear on the November general election ballot. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — After last week’s primary elections, attention now shifts to the November general election, with candidates for Brooklyn Park mayor and three City Council seats invited to participate in an Aug. 27 candidate forum.

The League of Women Voters of Brooklyn Park, Osseo and Maple Grove will host the forum beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, in the Brooklyn Park City Council chambers, 5200 85th Ave. N.

Incumbent Mayor Hollies Winston and Councilmember Shelle Page advanced from last week’s four-way mayoral primary. Winston led the field with 48.58% of the vote, while Page finished second with 27.29%.

Page is serving her first term on the City Council, and her current council term runs through 2028.

Three council seats will also be decided in November, although only the East District race appeared on the primary ballot last week.

In the East District, incumbent Councilmember Christian Eriksen finished first with more than 52% of the vote. Allen Miskowiec finished second with 17.65%, advancing with Eriksen to the general election.

In the Central District, Councilmember Nichole Klonowski, who is finishing her first term, will face Ashyante Shantell Gill.

The West District is an open seat, with Bernice Cooper and Tonja West-Hafner competing to succeed Councilmember Maria Tran. Tran opted to run for mayor this year but finished fourth in last week’s primary with 9.83% of the vote.

The forum is free and open to the public. Questions for the candidates may be submitted to the League ahead of the forum at [email protected].

Justice Department seeks to strip citizenship from 25 naturalized Americans, including 7 from Africa

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Mshale Staff
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New U.S. citizens participate in a naturalization ceremony in Minnesota. The Justice Department is seeking to revoke the citizenship of 25 naturalized Americans, including seven people from Africa and a Liberian man whose case was filed in Minnesota. | Photo courtesy of U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
Naturalization
New U.S. citizens participate in a naturalization ceremony in Minnesota. The Justice Department is seeking to revoke the citizenship of 25 naturalized Americans, including seven people from Africa and a Liberian man whose case was filed in Minnesota. | Photo courtesy of U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has filed civil actions seeking to revoke the U.S. citizenship of 25 naturalized Americans, including seven people from Africa, in what federal officials are calling the largest denaturalization effort of its kind.

The cases, filed in recent weeks in federal courts across the country, include three naturalized citizens from Nigeria, two from Ghana and one each from Liberia and Cameroon.

One of the cases was filed in Minnesota against Enos Fong Korti, a 51-year-old Liberian-born naturalized citizen whom the government accuses of concealing his marital status during the immigration process and later making false statements while applying for U.S. citizenship.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Korti immigrated to the United States as the unmarried child of a U.S. citizen but was actually married at the time, which would have made him ineligible to immigrate under that category. The government alleges he lied about his marital status during the visa process and later falsely stated during naturalization that he had never lied to U.S. officials.

The Justice Department filed the case in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

The six other African-born defendants are Jonathan Omorogieva Obasohan, 56, of Nigeria; Yetunde Folake Olaniyi, 56, of Nigeria; Esther Quayle, 50, of Ghana; Eddie Jones Appah, 66 or 67, of Ghana; Vivian Chike Obichere, 72, of Nigeria; and Francois Nguessi Dame, 65, of Cameroon.

The allegations against them vary widely.

Federal prosecutors accuse Obasohan of obtaining citizenship under a false identity after previously being ordered deported under another name. Olaniyi is accused of assuming another person’s identity and entering into a sham marriage after being ordered removed from the United States.

Quayle obtained permanent residency through her husband, who the government says had stolen the identity of a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors allege she later naturalized without disclosing his true identity and citizenship.

Appah is accused of failing to disclose that he had previously entered the United States and been deported under another identity.

Obichere, who naturalized in 2013, is accused of making false statements during her naturalization proceedings, including concealing that she had previously applied for and used a U.S. passport bearing another person’s name and identifying information. She later pleaded guilty to passport-related offenses.

Dame, the Cameroon-born defendant, is accused of sexually abusing his minor stepdaughter for years, including during the period before he naturalized in 2014, and failing to disclose the conduct during the naturalization process. He was later convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor.

Trump administration expands denaturalization cases

USCIS said Tuesday that the 25 complaints filed since July represent the largest denaturalization effort yet. The agency said the Justice Department has filed 123 civil denaturalization complaints since President Donald Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025, which it described as the most in recorded history.

The latest cases come amid growing attention to the Trump administration’s use of denaturalization, the legal process through which the government can seek to revoke citizenship from someone who became a U.S. citizen through naturalization.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, citizenship can be revoked if a federal court determines that naturalization was illegally obtained, or was obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.

The latest cases do not mean the 25 individuals have lost their U.S. citizenship. The Justice Department has filed civil complaints asking federal courts to revoke their citizenship, and the allegations have not yet been adjudicated.

USCIS said the cases involve allegations ranging from immigration and identity fraud to violent crimes and sexual abuse. In several cases, the government alleges that defendants committed crimes or other disqualifying conduct before becoming citizens and concealed that information during the naturalization process.

The 25 defendants come from countries including Pakistan, Moldova, India, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, Haiti, El Salvador, Peru and others.

The administration’s expanding use of denaturalization has drawn national attention and raised questions about how aggressively the government intends to scrutinize naturalized Americans. PBS News Hour on Thursday examined the Justice Department’s increased use of the rarely used legal process to revoke citizenship.

The Justice Department maintains that its efforts are aimed at people who were not legally entitled to naturalize or who obtained citizenship by concealing material facts or making false statements.

USCIS emphasized that the government’s allegations in the 25 newly filed complaints have not been proven in court.

“The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability,” the agency said.

Ilhan Omar easily wins Democratic primary with more than 80% of vote

By
Tom Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
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U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar celebrates her 2026 Democratic primary victory at Icehouse in Minneapolis.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar celebrates her Democratic primary victory Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Omar won more than 80% of the vote as she seeks a fifth term representing Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. | Photo courtesy of the Ilhan Omar campaign
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar celebrates her 2026 Democratic primary victory at Icehouse in Minneapolis.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar celebrates her Democratic primary victory Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Omar won more than 80% of the vote as she seeks a fifth term representing Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. | Photo courtesy of the Ilhan Omar campaign

MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar cruised to victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District, capturing more than 80% of the vote and easily defeating four challengers as she seeks a fifth term in Congress.

Omar received 122,640 votes, or 80.71%, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State, with all 217 precincts reporting.

Julie Trang Le finished a distant second with 10,201 votes, or 6.71%, followed by Latonya T. Reeves with 9,131 votes, or 6.01%. Nate Schluter received 8,016 votes, or 5.28%, and Abena A. McKenzie received 1,961 votes, or 1.29%.

Omar will face Republican John Nagel in the Nov. 3 general election. Nagel won a four-way Republican primary Tuesday with 52.16% of the vote.

“I am honored that the people of Minnesota’s Fifth District have trusted me to continue to be their voice in Congress,” Omar said in a statement following her victory.

The decisive victory marked a departure from some of Omar’s previous reelection campaigns, when challengers mounted more competitive efforts to unseat one of the most nationally prominent members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation.

Omar has faced a Democratic primary challenge in every reelection campaign since she was first elected to Congress in 2018. Former Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels challenged her in both 2022 and 2024.

The 2022 contest was particularly close, with Omar narrowly defeating Samuels with just over 50% of the vote. Their 2024 rematch was less competitive, with Omar winning 56.2% to Samuels’ 42.9%.

This year, none of Omar’s four challengers emerged as a comparable threat.

Omar used her victory statement to lay out a progressive agenda that included Medicare for All, universal school meals, affordable rent, reproductive rights and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We are tired of being told that it’s not possible to achieve things that would fundamentally make our lives better,” Omar said. “Instead, we are ready to work to make them a reality.”

Omar also placed immigration enforcement and the Trump administration at the center of her remarks, praising Minnesotans who she said organized to protect their neighbors when ICE targeted communities in the district.

“Our district has shown the country what it means to be Minnesotan: we look out for our neighbors, stand up for our rights, and show up when it matters most,” she said.

She pledged to continue serving as a check on the Trump administration and also pointed to gun violence, calling for what she described as “commonsense gun reforms” while invoking the victims of the Annunciation School shooting.

Omar, who was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a refugee, made history when she was elected to Congress in 2018. She became the first Somali American elected to Congress and, along with Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women elected to the U.S. House.

Omar is currently the only member of Congress who was born on the African continent.

The Fifth District includes Minneapolis and several surrounding communities, including Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights, Crystal, Edina, Fridley, Golden Valley, New Hope, Richfield, Robbinsdale, Spring Lake Park, St. Anthony and St. Louis Park.

Omar closed her victory statement by thanking voters throughout the district and urging supporters to turn their attention toward November.

“I am grateful that the Fifth District has my back, and I will always have yours,” Omar said. “Together as Minnesotans, we need to come together so we can win big in November.”

Susan Pha easily defeats Nehemiah Garley in Minnesota Senate District 38 DFL primary

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Mshale Staff
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Minnesota Sen. Susan Pha raises her hand while taking the oath of office at the Minnesota Capitol in January 2023.
Minnesota Sen. Susan Pha raises her hand as she takes the oath of office at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul on Jan. 3, 2023. Pha easily defeated challenger Nehemiah Garley in Tuesday’s DFL primary for Senate District 38, winning nearly 75% of the vote. | Mshale Staff Photo by Richard Ooga
Minnesota Sen. Susan Pha raises her hand while taking the oath of office at the Minnesota Capitol in January 2023.
Minnesota Sen. Susan Pha raises her hand as she takes the oath of office at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul on Jan. 3, 2023. Pha easily defeated challenger Nehemiah Garley in Tuesday’s DFL primary for Senate District 38, winning nearly 75% of the vote. | Mshale Staff Photo by Richard Ooga

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — State Sen. Susan Pha easily defeated challenger Nehemiah Garley in Tuesday’s DFL primary for Minnesota Senate District 38, winning nearly three-quarters of the vote and advancing to the November general election.

Pha received 5,623 votes, or 74.89%, compared with 1,885 votes, or 25.11%, for Garley, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State.

Pha will face Republican Brad Olson in the Nov. 3 general election. Olson did not have a primary opponent. State filings show Olson, Pha and Garley as the three candidates who filed for the District 38 seat this year.

District 38 covers Brooklyn Center and portions of Brooklyn Park and Osseo, communities that include significant immigrant populations and some of the Twin Cities’ largest African and Asian communities.

Pha, who was first elected to the Senate in 2022, thanked voters across the district for what she described as overwhelming support.

“I am deeply humbled by the overwhelming support we received, 74.89% of the vote,” Pha said in a statement Wednesday. “More than anything, I am grateful for every person who made their voice heard in this primary.”

Pha also credited her campaign team and volunteers, saying they knocked thousands of doors, made phone calls, delivered campaign signs and organized throughout the district. She said her campaign coordinated with several other candidates in the area, including House District 38A candidate Wynfred Russell and Brooklyn Center mayoral candidate Teneshia Kragness.

“Now we carry this incredible energy forward to November,” Pha said.

Garley, a Liberian-born Brooklyn Park resident, conceded the race Wednesday and congratulated Pha.

“I congratulate Senator Susan Pha on her victory and thank her for her continued service to our district,” Garley said. “I wish her well as she moves forward.”

Garley said that despite the loss, he believed his campaign succeeded in drawing people who have often been overlooked in politics into the electoral process, including immigrant families, first-time voters and young people.

He particularly highlighted participation by young Liberian Americans and members of the broader African immigrant community, saying that for many it was their first time becoming actively involved in a political campaign.

“They volunteered, organized, knocked on doors, made calls, spoke confidently about the issues, and discovered the power of their voices,” he said.

Nehemiah Garley stands with members of the Liberian community during the Liberian Independence Day parade in Brooklyn Park on July 26, 2026.
Minnesota Senate District 38 candidate Nehemiah Garley, center, joins members of the Liberian community during the Liberian Independence Day parade in Brooklyn Park on July 26, 2026. Following his loss to Sen. Susan Pha in Tuesday’s DFL primary, Garley said his campaign helped engage young Liberian Americans and other African immigrants in the political process. | Mshale Staff Photo by Tom Gitaa

Garley had sought to become the first Liberian-born member of the Minnesota Senate. During the campaign, he emphasized affordability, education, health care, small-business development and public safety.

The primary also exposed differences between the two DFL candidates over government spending, taxation and approaches to public safety.

During a July candidate forum covered by Mshale, Pha pointed to steps taken by the Legislature to combat fraud and argued that wealthy residents and corporations should bear a greater share of the tax burden. Garley called for stronger oversight of government spending and said lawmakers should focus on eliminating waste and easing the property-tax burden on residents.

The candidates also differed somewhat on gun violence. Pha backed additional gun restrictions, including a ban on high-capacity assault-style weapons, while Garley emphasized getting illegal guns off the streets and investing in education, mentorship and efforts addressing the root causes of violence.

Pha won her first Senate term in 2022 with 63.91% of the general election vote.

Garley said Wednesday that his involvement in public life would continue despite the primary loss, saying he plans to remain involved in community service, developing leaders and organizing residents.

“This will not be the last you see or hear from me,” he said.

Teneshia Kragness dominates Brooklyn Center mayoral primary; Koenig advances by 7 votes

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Mshale Staff
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Brooklyn Center mayoral candidates Alexander Koenig, left, and City Council member Teneshia Kragness advanced from Tuesday’s four-way primary and will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. Kragness received 52.86% of the vote, while Koenig narrowly secured the second spot by seven votes. | Photos courtesy of Alexander Koenig and Teneshia Kragness
Alexander Koenig and Teneshia Kragness 1
Brooklyn Center mayoral candidates Alexander Koenig, left, and City Council member Teneshia Kragness advanced from Tuesday’s four-way primary and will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. Kragness received 52.86% of the vote, while Koenig narrowly secured the second spot by seven votes. | Photos courtesy of Alexander Koenig and Teneshia Kragness

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Brooklyn Center City Council member Teneshia Kragness easily won Tuesday’s four-way mayoral primary, while Alexander Koenig narrowly secured the second spot on the November ballot by just seven votes.

Kragness received 1,832 votes, or 52.86%, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State. Koenig finished a distant second with 683 votes, or 19.71%.

City Council member Laurie Ann Moore came within seven votes of advancing, finishing third with 676 votes, or 19.50%. Latrecia J. Mayo received 275 votes, or 7.93%.

All six Brooklyn Center precincts had reported.

Kragness and Koenig will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election to succeed Mayor April Graves, who is not seeking reelection.

Kragness, who has served on the City Council since 2023, entered the race with Graves’ endorsement. Tuesday’s result gave her a commanding advantage heading into the general election, with more than 2½ times as many votes as Koenig.

Koenig’s narrow advancement came days after Mshale reported that Citizens for Safer Cities, a political committee funded primarily by apartment-owning companies, spent $5,589.60 on independent print advertising supporting his candidacy.

The committee’s spending supporting Koenig exceeded the fundraising reported by Kragness and Moore ahead of the primary. Kragness reported raising $1,249.83, including $300 she loaned her campaign, while Moore reported raising $100. Koenig told Mshale last week that he had requested an extension for his campaign finance report and described his campaign as largely self-funded.

Koenig said at the time that he did not solicit the committee’s support and had no involvement in its spending. Independent expenditures are made without coordination with the candidate or campaign they are intended to benefit.

Citizens for Safer Cities also spent $2,824 each in independent expenditures supporting City Council candidates Gretchen Enger and incumbent Dan Jerzak.

Four advance in City Council race

Brooklyn Center voters also narrowed a nine-candidate field to four candidates who will compete in November for two at-large City Council seats.

Enger led the field with 1,060 votes, or 17.72%, followed closely by Jerzak with 1,030 votes, or 17.22%.

Nahid Khan finished third with 815 votes, or 13.62%, while Mark Viste claimed the fourth and final spot on the November ballot with 657 votes, or 10.98%.

Justin McGuire finished fifth with 568 votes, or 9.49%, followed by Ebonie L. McMillan with 564 votes, or 9.43%; Aniya White with 533 votes, or 8.91%; Jacob Carter with 491 votes, or 8.21%; and Georgette Byers with 265 votes, or 4.43%.

Enger serves on the Brooklyn Center Finance Commission, while Jerzak has served on the City Council since January 2023. Khan chairs the city’s Arts and Beautification Commission and serves on the Sister Cities Commission, while Viste serves on the Planning Commission.

The four candidates will compete for the two council seats in the Nov. 3 general election, with the two highest vote-getters winning four-year terms.

Hollies Winston, Shelle Page advance in Brooklyn Park mayoral race

By
Mshale Staff
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Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston, left, speaks with U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Harlem Bromell after delivering his State of the City address at Edinburgh USA on April 7, 2026, while City Council member Shelle Page talks with residents during a National Night Out gathering on Aug. 4, 2026. Winston and Page advanced from Tuesday’s four-way mayoral primary and will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. | Mshale Staff Photos by Tom Gitaa
Mshale Photo Collage of Mayor Winston and Councilwoman Page
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston, left, speaks with U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Harlem Bromell after delivering his State of the City address at Edinburgh USA on April 7, 2026, while City Council member Shelle Page talks with residents during a National Night Out gathering on Aug. 4, 2026. Winston and Page advanced from Tuesday’s four-way mayoral primary and will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. | Mshale Staff Photos by Tom Gitaa

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston and City Council member Shelle Page advanced from Tuesday’s four-way mayoral primary, setting up a November contest between the incumbent and one of his council colleagues.

Winston easily led the field with 5,639 votes, or 48.58%, while Page finished second with 3,167 votes, or 27.29%, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State. All 25 Brooklyn Park precincts had reported.

Former City Council member Boyd Morson finished third with 1,660 votes, or 14.30%, while City Council member Maria Tran received 1,141 votes, or 9.83%.

The top two finishers advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

The result sets up a head-to-head contest between Winston, Brooklyn Park’s first Black mayor, and Page, who is midway through her first term representing the council’s Central District.

Winston is seeking a second term after first winning the mayor’s office in 2022. Page joined the City Council in January 2025 after narrowly defeating Teshite Wako by 341 votes in the 2024 general election.

Page announced her challenge to Winston in May, saying she wanted to bring a different leadership approach to City Hall.

The two entered Tuesday’s primary with a significant fundraising advantage over Morson and Tran. Campaign finance reports provided by the city last week showed Winston and Page had raised substantially more money than their two rivals as the primary approached.

Tuesday’s results confirmed their position as the race’s two leading candidates, although Winston enters the general election campaign with a sizable advantage from the primary. His 48.58% share was more than 21 percentage points higher than Page’s 27.29%.

Page has overcome a primary deficit before. In her successful 2024 campaign for the Central District seat, she finished second to Teshite Wako in the primary before defeating him by 341 votes in the November general election.

Eriksen easily advances in East District

In Brooklyn Park’s only City Council primary Tuesday, incumbent East District Council member Christian Eriksen easily finished first in a four-candidate field.

Eriksen received 2,068 votes, or 52.43%, according to unofficial results. Allen Miskowiec finished second with 696 votes, or 17.65%, earning the other spot on the November ballot.

Liberian-born Philip Seton Gaye-Bai finished third with 591 votes, or 14.98%, while Aaron Endris received 589 votes, or 14.93%. Just two votes separated Gaye-Bai and Endris.

Eriksen and Miskowiec will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election for the East District seat.

Incumbent Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley wins DFL primary for Minnesota House

By
Tom Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
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Minnesota state Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley speaks on the House floor at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. Momanyi-Hiltsley won the DFL primary for House District 38A on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, defeating former Brooklyn Park City Council member Wynfred Russell. | Photo courtesy of Session Daily/Minnesota House of Representatives
huldah presenting osseo bill crop
Minnesota state Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley speaks on the House floor at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. Momanyi-Hiltsley won the DFL primary for House District 38A on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, defeating former Brooklyn Park City Council member Wynfred Russell. | Photo courtesy of Session Daily/Minnesota House of Representatives

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Minnesota state Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley has won the DFL nomination for House District 38A, defeating former Brooklyn Park City Council member Wynfred Russell in a rematch of a primary she won by just 50 votes two years ago.

Momanyi-Hiltsley received 1,822 votes, or 48.79% of the vote, compared with Russell’s 1,561 votes, or 41.81%, with 100% of precincts reporting Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State. Richard A. Klatte finished third with 351 votes, or 9.40%.

The 261-vote victory puts Momanyi-Hiltsley, a first-term lawmaker who became the first Kenyan-born person elected to a state legislature in the United States in 2024, one step closer to a second term.

Momanyi-Hiltsley was one of only two DFL House incumbents seeking reelection this year who drew a primary challenger, making the District 38A contest an unusual intraparty fight for a sitting Democratic lawmaker.

Tuesday’s election was the second primary battle between Momanyi-Hiltsley and Russell in two years.

The two first faced each other in 2024 after longtime DFL Rep. Mike Nelson retired following 22 years in the Legislature. Neither candidate secured the 60% of delegate votes required for the DFL endorsement at the party convention, sending the decision to primary voters.

Momanyi-Hiltsley prevailed by just 50 votes in that contest, receiving 1,005 votes to Russell’s 955. She went on to win the November general election with nearly 65% of the vote, making history as the first Kenyan-born state legislator in the country.

Both candidates substantially increased their vote totals in Tuesday’s rematch. Russell grew his support from 955 votes in 2024 to 1,561 this year, while Momanyi-Hiltsley increased hers from 1,005 to 1,822 and widened her margin of victory from 50 votes to 261.

This year, Momanyi-Hiltsley and Russell agreed before the Senate District 38 DFL convention not to seek the party endorsement, saying they wanted to avoid the division within the African immigrant community that accompanied their 2024 endorsement battle. Both instead took their campaigns directly to primary voters.

Despite not seeking the local party endorsement, Momanyi-Hiltsley entered Tuesday’s primary with substantial support from organizations and elected officials traditionally aligned with the DFL.

Her endorsements included AFSCME Council 5, the Minnesota AFL-CIO and the Minnesota Nurses Association. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison headlined a fundraiser for her campaign, while state Sen. John Hoffman, who survived an assassination attempt in June 2025 on the same night former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed, also backed Momanyi-Hiltsley.

Momanyi-Hiltsley, a data privacy and protection professional, had pointed to her first-term legislative record as she made the case for reelection. When Russell announced his challenge in January, she told Mshale that she would let that record speak for itself.

She cited legislation she authored providing $80,000 for Osseo’s sesquicentennial celebration and an $8 million homelessness prevention assistance program, as well as legislation she co-authored strengthening renter protections in Minnesota. She was also the chief author of legislation that provided $400,000 for the Liberian Community Center in Brooklyn Park.

In a video posted on Facebook shortly after polls closed but before results were known, Momanyi-Hiltsley thanked her campaign supporters and District 38A voters for turning out.

“No matter what happens tonight, it has truly been an honor to represent you these last two years, and I pray and hope that I will get that honor to continue working for each and every one of you,” she said.

Momanyi-Hiltsley ended the message by telling supporters that “no matter what happens tonight, we are truly stronger together.”

House District 38A includes parts of Brooklyn Park and the city of Osseo.

In the Republican primary, GOP-endorsed Charlie Kistler easily defeated Yelena S. Kurdyumova, receiving 979 votes, or 90.23%, to Kurdyumova’s 106 votes, or 9.77%. Kistler will face Momanyi-Hiltsley in the Nov. 3 general election.

Russell conceded the race in a statement to Mshale early Wednesday, congratulating Momanyi Hiltsley on her victory.

“The voters of House District 38A have spoken. I congratulate Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley on her victory in the DFL primary,” Russell said.

Russell said he was proud of the campaign despite falling 261 votes short, pointing to more than 5,000 doors knocked and what he described as countless conversations with residents.

“We built a campaign rooted in community, knocked over five thousand doors, had countless conversations, and stood firmly for food access, affordability, health care, public safety, childcare, and opportunity for all,” he said.

UPDATE: This story was updated Aug. 12, 2026, to include comments from Wynfred Russell following the election.

Minnesotans head to the polls for primary election

By
Mshale Staff
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Voters fill out their ballots at Our Savior’s Church in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. Minnesotans are voting in the state primary to determine which candidates will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Voters Filling Out Ballots Morning of 8 11 26 MN Primary Election at Our Saviors Church in Brooklyn Park
Voters fill out their ballots at Our Savior’s Church in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. Minnesotans are voting in the state primary to determine which candidates will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

Minnesotans are heading to the polls Tuesday for the state’s primary election, where voters will choose candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and the Minnesota Legislature, along with candidates in nonpartisan local races for mayor, city council and county offices.

Polls are open until 8 p.m. Voters who are in line by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

The primary will determine which candidates advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State said Monday that early voting set a record for a primary in a nonpresidential election year. As of 9 a.m. Monday, election officials had accepted 206,196 absentee and mail ballots. Of those, 99,053 were returned by mail and 107,143 were cast in person.

About 213,000 absentee and mail ballots had not yet been returned as of Monday morning. The Secretary of State’s office is urging voters who still have absentee ballots to return them in person to their local election office rather than mail them. Voters who requested an absentee ballot but have not returned it can instead vote at their polling place.

Among the races Mshale is following closely are contests in Senate District 38 and mayoral races in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, where the top two finishers will advance to the November general election.

Mshale is also closely watching the DFL primary in House District 38A, where incumbent Rep. Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley and former Brooklyn Park Mayor Wynfred Russell are facing each other in a rematch.

Where do I vote?

Vote Here Sign at Our Saviors Church in Brooklyn Park
A sign directs voters to a polling place at Our Savior’s Church in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. Polls across Minnesota are open until 8 p.m. for the state primary election. | Photo by Tom Gitaa/Mshale

Minnesotans can find their Election Day polling place using the Secretary of State’s Polling Place Finder at mnvotes.gov/pollfinder.

Polling places are open until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Anyone in line by 8 p.m. has the right to vote.

Minnesota also allows eligible residents to register to vote at their polling place on Election Day.

To be eligible to vote, a person must be at least 18 years old by Primary Election Day, a U.S. citizen, a Minnesota resident for at least 20 days, not currently incarcerated for a felony conviction and not under a court order revoking the right to vote.

Voters with questions can call the Secretary of State’s election call center at 1-877-600-VOTE (8683) or text 651-217-3862. The service will remain available until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Voters can also track an absentee or mail ballot at mnvotes.gov/track.

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