‘Minnesota Mamdani’ Omar Fateh Loses Election Bid In Minneapolis

Minneapolis Democratic incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey successfully defended his office despite a challenge from his left in Democratic socialist Omar Fateh, the candidate some have compared to New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

Minneapolis uses ranked-choice voting, and Frey was able to pull together majority support after the third round of tabulation. After the first round, he already had a clear lead over Fateh — 41.8% to 31.7%.

Tabulation is complete for the Mayor. Jacob Frey is the unofficial winner. https://t.co/KTODcbQebb

— Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services (@VoteMpls) November 5, 2025

Throughout the campaign, the Somali-American attempted to capitalize on the type of messaging that had made Mamdani resonate in New York City — but with more limited success.

Among other things, he promised on the campaign trail to make Minneapolis the “last line of defense” against President Donald Trump and a “safe haven” for everything from illegal immigrants and abortions to transgender hormones and surgeries.

Fateh took direct aim at Frey on his campaign website, saying, “With Donald Trump back in the Oval Office, the progress towards equity and justice that our communities have worked so hard to create is in jeopardy. Mayor Frey has said that our approach to fighting Trump is extreme — he’s wrong.”

The Democratic socialist also adopted similar policy positions to Mamdani’s on making things — housing in particular — more affordable, promising to implement a rent freeze if elected, and calling for additional expenditures on housing designated for “LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people,” because he said they were “some of the highest at risk for losing their housing, being over-criminalized by [Minneapolis police], and being harassed by their employer.”

Fateh was initially endorsed by the local Democratic Party in the Minneapolis mayoral race over Mayor Frey.

“This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It’s a mandate to build a city that works for all of us,” Fateh said at the time.

But Frey argued that the endorsement was unlawful due to the process by which the group had voted, and that resulted in the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) withdrawing the endorsement later.