Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis won reelection on Wednesday over his far-left, DSA-aligned challenger, state Sen. Omar Fateh, marking a win for the more pragmatic wing of the Democratic Party. 

A similar result may be emerging in Seattle, where preliminary results showed the Democratic incumbent, Mayor Bruce Harrell, leading over his socialist challenger, though many ballots remain to be counted. 

Frey, who is the second Jewish mayor to preside over Minneapolis, secured his third term, winning by six percentage points, 50% to 44%, in the final round of the city’s ranked choice voting on Wednesday.

Fateh, a progressive affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, has accused Israel of committing “genocide,” among other anti-Israel views, and campaigned with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who remains one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress. 

Members of Fateh’s staff had also expressed hostile views towards Israel; His communications manager, Ayana Smith-Kooiman, said in a series of now-deleted social media posts that Israel “does not have a ‘right’ to exist” and “must be dismantled,” and said she did not care about Hamas a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks — statements that drew rebuke from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). 

Frey’s victory in Minneapolis signals a wariness of a socialist candidate in the heavily Democratic city, in contrast with Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City’s mayoral election on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, in Seattle, the first wave of ballots counted Tuesday night found Harrell holding a seven-point lead over self-described socialist Katie Wilson, 53% to 46%.  

Wilson, who has expressed hostile views towards Israel, including calling the Jewish state’s war on Hamas a “genocide,” led over Harrell in the primary. Wilson has expressed support in the past for divesting from investments in Seattle that support Israeli actions, which is in line with the BDS movement. 

Additionally, some Seattle Jewish community leaders have expressed deep concern over Wilson’s candidacy and her relationships with anti-Israel activists, including Kshama Sawant, a former far-left Seattle city councilmember who has faced accusations of stoking antisemitism.

However, the race is still far from being decided. Many ballots are left to be counted, including a significant share from left-leaning parts of the city. The next tranche of ballots is set to be reported around 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

Leading elected officials in Minnesota are remaining silent in response to a top Minneapolis mayoral candidate, far-left state Sen. Omar Fateh, whose campaign has faced scrutiny for employing staffers who have celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and called for Israel’s destruction, among other extreme views he has yet to publicly address.

Fateh, a 35-year-old Democratic socialist, now employs a campaign communications manager, Anya Smith-Kooiman, who, in now-deleted social comments recently unearthed by Jewish Insider, has endorsed the Hamas attacks as a justified act of “resistance,” said Israel “does not have a ‘right’ to exist” and “must be dismantled,” and amplified a comment dismissing widespread reports of sexual violence on Oct. 7 as “propaganda,” according to screenshots. 

Meanwhile, David Gilbert-Pederson, a local political activist and City Council aide who has been listed as a Fateh campaign staffer in filings, has unreservedly praised the Oct. 7 attacks, insisting in remarks on a December 2023 panel discussion that supporters of the Palestinian cause must “stand in unconditional solidarity with those resisting oppression.”

But even as some of the state’s leading Democratic lawmakers have endorsed Fateh’s rival, incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey, who is seeking a third term, they have so far declined to weigh in on the staffers’ comments and Fateh’s decision to hire them, which has raised questions about his acceptance of extreme rhetoric on a particularly sensitive issue.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Gov. Tim Walz, who are Frey’s most high-profile backers in what is expected to be a hotly contested race, both avoided addressing the matter to JI. A spokesperson for Klobuchar declined to comment on Friday, and representatives for Walz did not return multiple requests for comment.

Prominent Democratic officials who have not taken sides in the mayoral contest also did not respond to requests for comment — including Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor who is now running for U.S. Senate, and Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), a pro-Israel lawmaker also seeking to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). A spokesperson for the senator did not respond to a message seeking comment about Fateh.

The muted responses underscore an increasing reluctance among many Democratic elected officials and public figures to speak out against extremist or antisemitic language related to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

In Minneapolis, only one of the three City Council members who have endorsed Frey’s reelection bid was open to weighing in on the matter, denouncing the campaign staffers as well as Fateh’s judgement for choosing to employ them.

“Defending the Oct. 7 terrorist attack is disgraceful, and it’s embarrassing that Sen. Fateh is OK with this behavior,” Linea Palmisano, a Democratic councilwoman, told JI on Friday. “Who mayors surround themselves with matters, and anyone who stands by these remarks isn’t ready for the job.”

LaTrisha Vetaw and Michael Rainville, the other Council members supporting Frey, did not return requests for comment.

While Fateh himself has not used the same rhetoric as his allies, the state legislator has been a staunch critic of Israel — calling for a ceasefire 10 days after the Hamas attacks and accusing Israel of genocide in its war in Gaza. 

Fateh has also voiced his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, which some critics have accused of stoking antisemitism, and has pledged not to engage with the local Jewish Community Relations Council, according to a candidate questionnaire solicited by the Twin Cities chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a supporter of his campaign.

In the document, portions of which were recently obtained by JI, Fateh vowed to “refrain from any and all affiliation” with the JCRC, which the DSA dismissed as a “Zionist lobby group” akin to AIPAC, J Street and Christians United for Israel — even as the group is nonpartisan and represents the Jewish community to Minneapolis government officials.

Fateh did not share an explanation for his answer despite space to do so, according to the document reviewed by JI. 

Steve Hunegs, executive director of the JCRC of Minnesota and the Dakotas, sharply criticized the state senator’s responses to the DSA in a statement to JI on Friday, while questioning his commitment to combating antisemitism.

“Sen. Fateh’s campaign slogan promises a ‘city that works for everyone,’” Hunegs said. “But how can Sen. Fateh be understood as anything other than a divider when he’s pledged to boycott Jewish organizations? Likewise, how can Jews feel that our safety will be a priority when Sen. Fateh’s staff traffic in antisemitism? As proud Jews we aren’t going to allow Sen. Fateh, the DSA or Hamas apologists drive us from the public square.”

Fateh’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Fateh, who assumed office in 2021 as the first Muslim and first Somali American to serve in the Minnesota state Senate, won the state Democratic Party endorsement last month over Frey, who has challenged the results. 

The mayor, 44, is the second Jewish mayor to represent Minneapolis and has been increasingly outspoken against rising antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ attacks, while opposing some resolutions on Israel in the City Council that he has dismissed as one-sided. He has also been a critic of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the war in Gaza amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Jewish community activists in Minneapolis are voicing concerns about the rise of state Sen. Omar Fateh, a far-left lawmaker who, in a surprise upset, narrowly clinched the state Democratic Party endorsement on Saturday against incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey.

Fateh, a 35-year-old democratic socialist, has rarely commented on Israel or rising antisemitism during his time in the state Senate, even as he called for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas just 10 days after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.  

But his close alliances with anti-Israel voices such as the Twin Cities arm of the Democratic Socialists of America — which backs efforts to boycott and divest from Israel — have raised questions over his approach to key issues and his potential outreach to the organized Jewish community as he vies for the mayorship. 

In its mayoral endorsement questionnaire, the DSA asked candidates to pledge “to refrain from any and all affiliation with the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups” — citing AIPAC, J Street and even the nonpartisan Jewish Community Relations Council.

Fateh’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment about whether he signed the pledge, but its existence is “alarming,” said Ethan Roberts, the deputy director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas.

“It’s instructive that Fateh sought and received the DSA endorsement,” Roberts told Jewish Insider in an interview on Monday. “There’s obviously a clear contrast between Mayor Frey, who’s a Democrat — and Sen. Fateh, who’s a DSA-er.”

Still, Roberts echoed other community activists in warning against drawing parallels between Fateh’s victory and Zohran Mamdani’s recent upset in New York City’s mayoral primary, noting that the party’s endorsement is not necessarily reflective of broader voter sentiment in Minneapolis — even as it comes with organizational muscle that could help to boost his insurgent campaign.

Fateh, a Muslim of Somali descent, celebrated his endorsement from the state party over the weekend as “a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes and politics as usual,” he wrote on social media. 

For his part, Frey, a Jewish Democrat seeking what would be his third and final term as mayor, is appealing the vote, alleging that several ballots had gone uncounted during the state party convention. His campaign filed a formal challenge with the state party on Monday.

“Everyone who endured this multi-hour convention process deserved to have their voices heard,” Sam Schulenberg, the mayor’s campaign manager, said in a statement on Monday, while pointing to what he dismissed as a “highly flawed process that clearly missed or did not count a large percentage of the votes cast.” 

Frey, the second Jewish mayor to represent Minneapolis, has been outspoken against rising antisemitism in recent years, and has butted heads with the City Council over anti-Israel resolutions he has dismissed as one-sided. 

If the endorsement of Fateh holds, it will “create a lot of headwinds” for Jewish party activists, Manny Houle, a pro-Israel party strategist in Minneapolis, told JI, anticipating a challenging relationship with Fateh and his allies on the left. 

“We always have an open hand, but if somebody bites it we don’t keep our hand extended — and we expect that to be the same here,” Houle said. “He’s surrounded by a lot of people who have made their positions clear.”

Houle also pointed to emerging concerns about a DSA-backed resolution that abruptly passed near the end of the convention on Saturday — opposing any city investment or contracts with what it called “entities complicit in the occupation and genocide in Gaza.”

Houle said he was working with some groups that are preparing challenges to the resolution, saying that it could cause “long-term issues” for the Jewish community — particularly in “how it is pigeonholed around the conflict” in the Middle East. “There’s no nuance in this conversation anymore,” he told JI. 

One Jewish party activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity to address a sensitive topic, said that the resolution was “emblematic” of his reservations  around Fateh’s bid. 

“I’m concerned about what this means for Jewish safety in Minneapolis,” he told JI. “I’m concerned about what his relationship will be with local Jewish organizations, if he’s elected.”

Yiscah Bracha, a Jewish activist involved in local Democratic politics, also expressed concerns about the trajectory of the race as Frey now finds himself playing defense. 

“I’m concerned by Fateh’s endorsement,” she said, “but I’m more concerned about the movement that produced the endorsement for him.”