Minneapolis residents have a more favorable view of Chief Medaria Arradondo than they do of Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council, a new poll shows.
But the Minneapolis Police Department as a whole is viewed unfavorably by 53% of residents, down from the 66% of voters who viewed the department unfavorably last summer, according to the Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11/FRONTLINE poll.
Mayor Frey has seen his favorability rating fall from 50% in August 2020 to 35% this month, with 29% of respondents expressing “no opinion” of the first-term Democrat, who is up for reelection in November. An equal number of likely voters, 36%, expressed an unfavorable opinion of the mayor.
The Minneapolis City Council’s favorability rating sits at a miniscule 28%, compared to 44% who have an unfavorable opinion of the council. Another 28% said they have no opinion. In August 2020, 43% of voters had a favorable view of the council.
Both the mayor and the council have significantly lower scores than Chief Arradondo, who is viewed favorably by 55% of residents, including 75% of black voters.
The poll also found that most likely voters, 55%, do not think Minneapolis should reduce the size of its police force but support replacing the police department with a new department of public safety. This is despite the fact that 73% of residents think crime has increased in the last few years.
Among black voters, 75% do not want the size of the Minneapolis police force to be reduced while 47% oppose the effort to replace the police department.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
