Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, right, pictured in 2023 during a press conference about an investigation into police conduct in the 2020 murder of George Floyd, lost the the Democratic party’s backing in this November’s mayoral election to state Sen. Omar Fateh. Photo by Craig Lassig/EPA
July 20 (UPI) — The Minneapolis mayor during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests has lost the backing of the Democratic party to a Somali-American after a contested vote by members of the party.
Omar Fateh, 35, a state Senator, won the mayoral endorsement over Jacob Frey, who has held the office since 2018.
Fateh is the first Somali-American to serve in the state legislature since 2018 and received 60% of the delegates at the Minneapolis DFL convention Saturday, despite complaints from the Frey campaign about the election process.
Frey took issue with electronic balloting at the convention, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and said he would appeal the vote.
“This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention,” Frey’s campaign manager office said in a statement. “Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November.”
Frey was elected mayor in 2017 and again in 2021, and was in charge of Minneapolis during the 2020 BLM riots after George Floyd died at the hands of a white police officer.
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