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The DFL mayoral endorsement might just matter after all — and it should • Minnesota Reformer [1]

['David Brauer', 'J. Patrick Coolican', 'Kayseh Magan', 'Niko Lemieux', 'More From Author', 'July', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline']

Date: 2025-07-24

A few days ago, after state Sen. Omar Fateh won an ultra-rare Minneapolis DFL mayoral endorsement, Reformer editor J. Patrick Coolican wondered in his newsletter why it mattered. Let’s just say I — a former journalist, current DFL activist, and guy who will rank Fateh in November — clapped back on social media; what followed was, in political parlance, a frank exchange of views.

Coolican’s not-unreasonable case was that the city DFL can’t really throw money at its endorsee (true) and there’s a rich statewide example of Democratic voters rejecting the party’s gubernatorial endorsees. (Think Gov. Tim Walz primary victory over convention winner state Sen. Erin Murphy in 2018.)

I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t say Coolican is wrong. But there are several reasons why doubters might be.

First, while statewide Dems regularly topple their delegates’ choice, Minneapolis doesn’t have nearly that track record. Before Saturday, we endorsed once this century: R.T. Rybak in 2009, when he had only token opposition. The last non-incumbent endorsement was Don Fraser in 1979, for an open seat that he wound up winning. According to Rybak and others, an incumbent mayor has never been passed over for a rival since the 1944 merger created the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

More recently, conventions have foretold incumbent fortunes. In 2001, Rybak denied incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton endorsement; he won resoundingly in November. In 2017, incumbent Betsy Hodges failed to claim the crown, hammered from left and right after protesters shut down the Minneapolis Police 4th Precinct, and lost to Frey. Frey has never won mayoral endorsement, having blocked a party endorsement in 2021. He overcame 2021’s rejection as an incumbent, but his opposition was much less known, funded, and coordinated than this year.

That’s all history; one objective way to view the endorsement’s worth is how hard candidates work for it. This was Fateh’s Super Bowl; his experienced grassroots team helped drive caucus turnout to new heights this spring, which rivals like Rev. Dr. Dewayne Davis lauded afterwards. But Frey, too, played. Not one but two (tacitly) affiliated PACs messaged relentlessly in advance of caucuses, and the mayor himself was personally calling delegates before the convention.

For Frey, this was a defensive move; even allies told media pre-convention that he was likely to finish second, so the goal was to block endorsement, like usual. But in a city that uses ranked choice voting, Fateh, Davis and fellow challenger Jazz Hampton have been campaigning together; in hindsight, their delegates executed a mini-RCV, when the trio’s delegates coalesced to get Fateh over the 60% threshold.

Frey has traditionally enjoyed a huge fundraising advantage, and especially after 2021’s 12-point victory over unheralded opposition, has cultivated an air of inevitability. Davis and Hampton — or enough of their convention supporters — deemed puncturing that inevitability worth elevating Fateh.

For the first time since 2017, it’s easier for those unsold on Frey’s leadership to imagine a city not led by him. Fateh, Davis and Hampton will never catch Team Frey’s fundraising, especially now that Frey can milk the heightened threat of a democratic socialist DFLer winning. But the endorsement fuels organizing energy, and rivals’ donors may give more if they are worried less about dollars being thrown down a rathole.

While the city DFL won’t help much financially, the party has clout. In its appeal to the state party over convention voting procedures, Team Frey clearly seeks valuable voter info denied to non-endorsees. Assuming the controversy resolves in Fateh’s favor, his face will grace the top of the DFL sample ballot sent to tens of thousands of voters. DFL subgroups that Team Frey worked hard to capture must now retract any endorsement recommendation that isn’t Fateh, and labels like “DFL Feminist Caucus” can’t grace the mayor’s upcoming direct mail avalanche. It’s branding, of uncertain value, but likely some.

And in a heavily DFL city, the endorsement buttresses a burgeoning attack that Frey relies on Republicans. On X, GOP consultant Dustin Grage thundered after the convention that “every Republican in Minneapolis is going to be voting for Jacob Frey.” Many already donate; for example, Star Tribune Republican columnist Andy Brehm gave $750 to Frey in 2023-24, a fact not disclosed in Brehm’s post-convention column eviscerating Fateh. (On that note: I’ve given to Davis, former challenger Emily Koski, and a PAC opposing Frey and his allies, and am fundraising for Fateh, Davis and Hampton.)

Does this signal an inevitable Frey loss? Of course not. Frey and his “uniparty” allies will have the most money to pound a final message; 2021’s playbook of cops and capital threatening to leave has yet to be overcome; and partisan conventions never fully capture an electorate broader than the DFL.

But journalists — at least those who look deeper than Star Tribune opinion writers upset about convention menus — may notice the anti-Frey coalition is bigger than democratic socialists and more willing to work together, which ought to motivate them to seek explanations beyond the labels.

The endorsement process has been attacked for empowering only people who can slog 12 hours on a Saturday; Frey and his allies will try to delegitimize it further. But after this spring’s high caucus attendance and this week’s crackling energy, the endorsement process has catalyzed real choices in November, which, after all, is supposed to be the point of democracy.

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[1] Url: https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/07/24/the-dfl-mayoral-endorsement-might-just-matter-after-all-and-it-should/

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