urbanMSP

It would be super interesting to see Ray, Bestsy and Nekima debate. Ray and Nekima are both very attuned to racial justice issues and the dynamic around who supports whom is going to be wild.

Another mayoral candidate throws his hat in the ring: Aswar Rahman. http://aswarrahman.com/

Seems to be running on anti-tax platform combined with some progressive goodies (end homelessness, raise minimum wage) and obligatory mention of ending crime as we know it.

What? He's a local filmmaker who started a "collective" that basically just funnels everything back to himself. I thought the height of his ego was when he started a festival to headline his own films. I guess I was wrong.

^Think he should have delayed his announcement, at least until his website doesn't have literal "lorem ipsum" text on the front page.

Strib's running an above-the-fold headline suggesting Hodges' minimum-wage flip scrambles the race. I'm skeptical! But the article includes this interesting section:

Frey, who is widely expected to run for mayor but has not announced his candidacy, said Hodges' announcement was a case of "political gymnastics" aimed at disguising her inaction on the minimum wage.

"We're delighted the mayor has joined the conversation my colleagues and I have been having for two-plus years," Frey said. "The odd flip-flop without engagement does not inspire confidence."

If Frey's willing to make comments like this on-the-record for an article like this, he's probably going to run.

He's running: https://www.facebook.com/electfrey/post ... 4504508657

http://www.jacobfreyforourcity.com/rally-registration

I wish he weren't though...he very well could have been Council President instead (with Barb! and Glidden possibly others gone)

There is the very real possibility he will not be Mayor and will also be off the council. And on top of that we'll get someone less good representing Ward 3.

P.S. Over the past week, some have pointed to the fact that his name was not listed here under Ward 3 as evidence that he was running. http://www.mpls.dfl.org/

If you discount Rahman, you're really seeing two separate camps here: Dehn and Levy-Pounds probably have the most gravitas as it pertains to social justice issues (both of their announcements certainly focused on that). And then you've got what is, for lack of a better label, "mainstream" liberal candidates like Hodges and Frey.

I think RCV is really going to make this an interesting race. I wonder how much crossover there would be between the two camps vs. the people that are trying to decide who to rank first and second within the camps. It's hard to imagine someone voting for Hodges and Levy-Pounds. But it's not a huge jump to think someone might vote for Frey (because they think Hodges isn't enough of a cheerleader) and still put Hodges next because they think she's competent enough.

I think there'll be a fair amount of crossover. At this moment I'm leaning Dehn, mostly because I've worked with him before and know he knows how to get things done and his experience with the criminal justice system means he can hit the ground running tackling that super important issue. After that it's really up in the air with me. They each have their own flaws from my perspective and it'll be a matter of sorting out whose flaws are the least problematic. Right now Hodges is on the bottom of the four for me. Her recent embrace of a minimum wage ordinance smacks of political opportunism and I don't trust she would really push to make it happen. Plus she has not been leading on BLM-related issues.

This is just the kind of race RCV is made for.

Another mayoral candidate throws his hat in the ring: Aswar Rahman. http://aswarrahman.com/

Seems to be running on anti-tax platform combined with some progressive goodies (end homelessness, raise minimum wage) and obligatory mention of ending crime as we know it.

Is there a minimum age requirement for Mayor? I used to vaguely know Aswar and I'm pretty sure he is only 22 or 23.

I just don't see Dehn getting a lot of traction or staying in this race past the endorsement convention. With him and Nekima competing for the same group of voters, it's easy to imagine she will get far more attention, even if he's the "official" NOC candidate. It's one thing to run a 5-6 month campaign to race for convention delegates. It's a whole 'nother thing to run all the way to November. See Gary Schiff in 2013...the money wasn't there and he dropped out at the convention.

I bet there's a perception under a large amount of Minneapolis voters that is not favorable to Nekima, seeing her as a protester instead of a problem solver. I bet Dehn is far more electable than Levy-Pounds because of this. Anyone else get the same read on the electorate?

Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking.

This video will definitely be brought up to attack Nekima

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY134oiUbPg

NLP's got some serious problems as a candidate, to put it mildly. And her social justice credentials are far from unimpeachable - Dehn's been much more consistent on that front. Some of her campaigns and causes have been outright shady.

NLP is a charter school advocate. That's enough to keep her off my top three. Hodges, Dehn, Sparrow right now

Reminder that the rally for Frey is tonight at 6! Dangerous Man Brewery!

I hope he fails miserably.

I hope he has a change of heart and stays at W3. We need his vote on the council way more than we need a different mayor.

I like him in his current position.

Out of the four announced candidates, he'd seem to be the one who has best demonstrated the actual skills needed to be do the job in a weak-mayor system.

Standing up for Uber and Bill MacGuire? I know lots of smart, pathologically smug and obvnoxious centrists who think giving money for stadiums and supporting regulation arbitrage are bad ideas.