MINNEAPOLIS — In his first public announcement as a political figure, one local candidate decided to declare his candidacy for mayor of Minneapolis within his community.
An event with food carts along Broadway Avenue and U-Sity, an up and coming rapper from the Northside, Jonathan Honerbrink, announced his candidacy for mayor at KMOJ studios in North Minneapolis, in the community he grew up in.
Hornerbrink seeks to bring the city together in what he calls, “From the city, for the city.” In a brief speech, Honerbrink said he would, “hold the media, special interest groups, and politicians accountable for their divisive behavior toward this city.”
He graduated from Concordia with a degree in Finance and currently works as a Regional Sales Manager for Home Depot, according to his LinkedIn.
Honerbrink has been a longtime community activist in his neighborhood. He has volunteered with the Minneapolis Park Board and has served as a mentor and coach for the youth in North Minneapolis.
He spoke about the tornados that hit North Minneapolis in 2011 and lambasted the media for its portrayal of his neighborhood.
“What the media didn’t show is that people in this community helped one another,” Hornerbrink said, “They gave each other water, they barbecued, and they cut down all the trees that were in the way for each other. That’s the community that I know, that I love, and this is where I wanted to start my campaign.”
On his LinkedIn page, Hornerbrink describes his decision to run, “Our City is broken. Failed policy, failing institutions, and generation after generation of weak leadership have left us with a broken system and a broken government. But in truth, fixing this City is not about us today. It’s about our children.”
Though the race for mayor is non-partisan, Honerbrink, unlike his opponents, has chosen to campaign with Republican values. He joins activist and former law professor Nekima Levy-Pounds, activist Al Flowers, State Rep. Raymond Dehn (D-Minneapolis), City Councilman Jacob Frey, filmmaker Aswar Rahman, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, Jeffrey Sterling Olson, Tom Hoch, Bob Carney, and Captain Jack Sparrow in the race.
The race concludes in November 2017 where the winner will be decided by the use of rank choice voting.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
