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Jacob Frey’s unfinished business in Minneapolis

As the mayor announces his bid for a third term, he tells JI, 'the job is not finished yet'

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey speaks to supporters at an Election Night party on November 2, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, said on Wednesday he will seek a third and final term in office, as the Jewish Democrat prepares to face a growing number of challengers in the November election.

“Our city has come through adversity together, and Minneapolis is coming back with real results,” Frey told Jewish Insider. “But the job is not finished yet, and I am running to finish the job and to set up the next mayor and our city residents for success for decades to come.”

In his seven years as mayor, Frey, 43, has frequently clashed with the far left on such issues as policing, rent control and Israel’s war with Hamas, using his veto power to oppose a cease-fire resolution passed in the City Council that he criticized as “one-sided,” among other divisive measures.

Frey has said that he drew closer to his Jewish identity amid a surge in antisemitism following the Oct. 7 terror attacks, when he became increasingly vocal in condemning anti-Jewish prejudice. Last month, a synagogue he attends in Minneapolis was defaced with swastikas, an incident he denounced on social media as a troubling example of rising antisemitism “too few have spoken out against.”

“As a Jewish person and as a Jewish mayor, I’ve seen horrid incidents play out without a lot of pushback,” he told JI on Wednesday. “I’m going to stand up for a community I happen to be a member of that has seen quite a bit of discrimination.”

Frey, the second Jewish mayor of Minneapolis, is defending his seat against several opponents who have criticized his adversarial approach to the City Council, where he served before ascending to the city’s top job. 

The field includes Councilmember Emily Koski, Rev. DeWayne Davis, Jazz Hampton, Brenda Short and state Sen. Omar Fateh, the latter of whom Frey views as “the main contender,” at least “on paper,” he told JI. 

Fateh, a democratic socialist, has accused Frey of “failing” Minneapolis residents, arguing “nothing really changed” after the murder of George Floyd and vowing to bring “meaningful” changes to the city’s police department.

Frey, who has prominently clashed with anti-police protesters, declined for now to respond in detail to Fateh’s challenge. “I’ll just say that he’s not right for Minneapolis,” he said. “The policies and approach that he supports are not right for Minneapolis.”

The mayor otherwise touted affordable housing investments and a new federal oversight agreement with the Department of Justice to overhaul the city’s police force, which he has vowed to implement even as the Trump administration has recently suggested that it plans to review the so-called consent decree. 

As the Trump administration moves to enact a sweeping agenda, Frey argued that Minneapolis needs a “steady, strong” and “strategic” leader to help handle inevitable disruptions that lie ahead.

“We’ve got to understand that the opposite of Donald Trump extremism is not the opposite extreme,” Frey told JI. “The opposite of Donald Trump extremism is good, thoughtful government — where we’re thinking things through and we’re loving our city more than our ideology.”

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