The Minneapolis DFL is asking that its endorsement of Sen. Omar Fateh be reinstated. In a written appeal submitted to the state party, the Minneapolis DFL said the decision to strip Fateh of the DFL mayoral endorsement resulted from a “flawed process.”
For the last few weeks, DFLers in Minneapolis have been arguing over who won the party’s endorsement for mayor of the city. In July, Fateh claimed he won the endorsement at the city’s DFL convention. However, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey alleged that the convention and endorsement were illegitimate due to serious issues that occurred at the gathering.
Two weeks ago, the Minnesota DFL’s Constitution, Rules, and Bylaws Committee (CRBC) vacated the endorsement of Fateh after hearing a challenge from Frey.
Among other things, the CRBC found that the convention’s electronic voting system was flawed, a candidate was wrongly excluded from the round of voting that resulted in the “endorsement” of Fateh, and multiple delegate issues occurred.
In addition to vacating the mayoral endorsement, the CRBC prohibited another endorsing convention from occurring and put the Minneapolis DFL on probation. No endorsements for candidates running for City Council or the Minneapolis Parks Board were similarly vacated.
The CRBC’s ruling elicited fierce reactions from many left-wing figures who support Fateh’s campaign to unseat Frey.
On Thursday, the Minneapolis DFL submitted its appeal of that decision to the Minnesota DFL’s State Executive Committee (SEC). In its appeal, the party unit alleged that CRBC members had conflicts of interest, facts asserted by the CRBC were not accurate, the CRBC exceeded its authority, and the “remedies” prescribed were not appropriate.
However, the written appeal did not provide any specifics about the alleged conflicts of interest. No specific names or improper relationships were listed. Despite this, the appeal says members of the CRBC “had conflicts of interest that, at minimum, required declaration to the committee if not recusal.”
Additionally, the Minneapolis DFL’s appeal disputed the CBRC’s findings about an allegedly lost credentials book, the security of a “master check-in sheet,” and the security of a digital credential spreadsheet.
The local party unit argued that the “remedies” prescribed by the Minnesota DFL should be struck and Fateh should have the mayoral endorsement restored to him. If the SEC decides against this, the Minneapolis DFL said a new endorsing convention should be allowed.
Alpha News reached out to the Minnesota DFL for this story but did not hear back.
The 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election
At the moment, the 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election is viewed as a contest between Frey and Fateh. A former city councilor, Frey is serving his second term as mayor after winning the office in 2017 and 2021. Fateh is in his second term as a state senator.
Both candidates are decidedly left-wing, but Frey is viewed as more mainstream given his clashes with the far-left members of the Minneapolis City Council. Meanwhile, Fateh has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Like Mamdani, Fateh is Muslim and aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Frey has received endorsements from Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt. Meanwhile, Fateh has been endorsed by a collection of state legislators and city officials, including swing-district Sens. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, and Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud.
The election, which is conducted via ranked-choice voting, will take place on Nov. 4. Early voting begins Sept. 19 and runs through Nov. 3.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
