2021 Minneapolis City Council election

Last updated

Minneapolis City Council election, 2021
Flag of Minneapolis.svg
←  2017 November 2, 2021 (2021-11-02) 2023  →
All 13 seats on the Minneapolis City Council
7 seats needed for a majority
Turnout54.0% (Increase2.svg 11.6pp)
 Majority partyMinority party
  PresidentLisaBender.jpg Minneapolis Police, Third Precinct Community Conversations (52811547087) (cropped).jpg
Leader Lisa Bender
(retiring)		 Robin Wonsley Worlobah
Party Democratic (DFL) Democratic Socialists (DSA)
Leader's seatWard 10Ward 2
Last election12 seats, 82.69%0 seats, did not contest
Seats won121
Seat changeSteady2.svgIncrease2.svg 1
Popular vote115,2773,061
Percentage86.0%2.3%
SwingIncrease2.svg3.2 ppIncrease2.svg2.3 pp
2021 Minneapolis City Council election.svg
Winning party's vote share by ward.
President before election

Lisa Bender
Democratic (DFL)

Elected President

Andrea Jenkins
Democratic (DFL)

The 2021 Minneapolis City Council elections was held on November 2, 2021, to elect representatives for all 13 wards of the Minneapolis City Council. These elections occurred alongside the mayoral race and several other municipal offices, including Park Board and Board of Estimate and Taxation positions. The council elections were conducted using a ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference on their ballots. [1]

Contents

Amid a backdrop of significant local and national events, including the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, candidates across the wards ran on various platforms, addressing key issues such as public safety reform, housing, economic recovery, and the city's approach to policing. [2]

The DFL garnered an overwhelming 85% of the 1st choice votes, a 3 percentage point increase from the previous election. The remaining seat was taken by Democratic Socialist candidate Robin Wonsley (Ward 2), who beat incumbent Green Party council member Cam Gordon in the only known Condorcet cycle in United States electoral history.

Overall, moderates gained a net one seat on the 13-member council. This change suggests that moderates will have increased influence over key decisions on issues such as police reform and rent control. [3] While progressives managed to secure seats in Wards 1 and 9, they suffered losses in Wards 3, 4, and 11, where moderate challengers defeated progressive incumbents who had supported the now-failed charter amendment to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. [4]

Retiring members

DFL

Candidates

WardIncumbentCandidates
NamePartyFirst electedNamePartyParty endorsement
1Kevin ReichDFL 2009 Elliott Payne DFLMinneapolis DFL
Kevin ReichDFL
Calvin CarpenterVeterans
Thomas WortmanDFL
2 Cam Gordon Green2005 Cam Gordon GreenFifth District Green Party
Robin Wonsley Worlobah DSATwin Cities DSA [7]
Yusra ArabDFL
Tom AndersonDFL
Guy T. GaskinRepublican
3Steve FletcherDFL2017Steve FletcherDFL
Hope HennesseyIndependent
Merv MoorheadDFL
Michael Rainville DFL
4 Phillipe Cunningham DFL2017 Phillipe Cunningham DFLMinneapolis DFL
LaTrisha Vetaw DFL
Leslie DavisWe the People
5 Jeremiah Ellison DFL2017 Jeremiah Ellison DFL
Suleiman IsseDFL
Victor MartinezDFL
Elijah Norris-HollidayIndependent
Kristel PorterDFL
James SeymorWitness
Cathy SpannDFL
6 Jamal Osman DFL2020Abdirizak BihiDFL
Jamal Osman DFL
7 Lisa Goodman DFL1997 Lisa Goodman DFLMinneapolis DFL
Nick KorDFL
Teqen Zéa-AidaDFL
Joanna DiazDFL
8 Andrea Jenkins DFL2017 Andrea Jenkins DFLMinneapolis DFL
Robert SullentropRepublican
9 Alondra Cano DFL 2013 Jason Chavez DFLMinneapolis DFL
Twin Cities DSA [7]
Jon Randall DenisonSocial Justice
Alfred "AJ" Flowers, JrDFL
Yussuf HajiDFL
Carmen MeansDFL
Mickey MooreDFL
Brenda ShortDFL
Ross TennesonRepublican
10 Lisa Bender DFL 2013 Aisha Chughtai DFLTwin Cities DSA [7]
Katie Jones DFL
Alicia GibsonDFL
Ubah NurDFL
Chris ParsonsDFL
David WheelerDFL
11Jeremy SchroederDFL2017 Emily Koski DFL
Jeremy SchroederDFL
Kurt Michael AndersonIndependent
Dillon GhernaDFL
Albert T. RossDFL
12 Andrew Johnson DFL 2013 Andrew Johnson DFLMinneapolis DFL
Nancy FordIndependent
David RosenfeldSocialist Workers
13 Linea Palmisano DFL 2013 Linea Palmisano DFLMinneapolis DFL
Mike NortonDFL
Kati MedfordGreen
Bob ReuerIndependent
Ken SalwayRepublican

Electoral system

The 13 members of the City Council are elected from single-member districts via instant-runoff voting, commonly known as ranked choice voting. Voters have the option of ranking up to three candidates in order of preference. Municipal elections in Minnesota are officially nonpartisan, although candidates are able to identify with a political party on the ballot. Write-in candidates must file a request with the Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services Division for votes for them to be counted.

Results

‹ The template Pie chart is being considered for merging. ›

Vote share by first-party preference

  DFL (85.95%)
  GOP (2.71%)
   Green (2.28%)
  DSA (2.06%)
  Socialist Workers (0.58%)
  Other parties (1.3%)
  Independent (5.02%)
  Write-in (0.36%)
PartyCandidates1st Choice VotesSeats
No.%∆ppNo.∆No.%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party 41115,27785.95+3.2612092.31
Democratic Socialists of America 13,0612.26+2.261+17.69
Republican Party of Minnesota 43,6312.71+1.37000.00
Green Party of Minnesota 23,0612.28-5.500-10.00
Socialist Workers Party 17730.58+0.58000.00
Veterans Party16350.47+0.47000.00
We the People16350.47+0.47000.00
Social Justice1800.06+0.06000.00
Witness1380.03+0.03000.00
Independent 56,7395.03+1.13000.00
Write-in N/A4880.36−0.10000.00
Total134,116100.00±0.0013±0100.00
Valid votes134,116--
Overvotes---
Undervotes---
Turnout (registered voters)145,33754.0+11.6

Ward 1

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1Round 2% FinalStatus
Democratic (DFL) Elliott Payne 48.18%5,5115,74552.53%Elected
Democratic (DFL) Kevin Reich (incumbent)42.87%4,9035,19147.47%Lost
Veteran's PartyCalvin Carpenter5.58%638Eliminated
Democratic (DFL) Thomas Wortman3.17%363Eliminated
Write-in N/A0.20%23Eliminated
Exhausted ballots5024.39%
Valid votes11,438
Threshold5,720
Undervotes704
Turnout57.4%12,142
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [8]

Ward 2

The election in Ward 2 exhibited the only known Condorcet cycle in United States electoral history, with a narrow circular tie between Arab, Gordon, and Wonsley. [9] Arab was preferred over Gordon by a 51.3% majority, Gordon was preferred over Wonsley by 50.5%, and Wonsley was preferred over Arab by 50.1%. [10] Additionally, the election exhibited a downward monotonicity paradox, as well as a paradox akin to Simpson’s paradox. [11] However, according to Minneapolis' ranked choice voting tabulation process, Wonsley narrowly won with 42.6% of final round votes (or 50.09% of unexhausted ballots). [12]

First preference by precinct: Wonsley 30-40% 40-50% 60-70% Arab 30-40% 40-50% Gordon 20-30% 30-40% 2021 Minneapolis City Council Ward 2 election.svg
First preference by precinct:
  Wonsley
  •   30-40%
  •   40–50%
  •   60-70%
  Arab
  •   30-40%
  •   40-50%
  Gordon
  •   20-30%
  •   30-40%
PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1Round 2Round 3% FinalStatus
Democratic Socialists (DSA) Robin Wonsley 29.04%2,7632,8794,04650.09%Elected
Democratic (DFL) Yusra Arab28.49%2,7193,2364,03249.01%Lost
Green Party Cam Gordon (incumbent)26.36%2,5082,800Eliminated
Democratic (DFL) Tom Anderson10.28%982Eliminated
Republican Guy Gaskin5.74%546Eliminated
Write-in N/A0.09%9Eliminated
Exhausted ballots6121,43416.18%
Valid votes9,527
Threshold4,764
Undervotes272
Turnout55.8%9,799
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [13]

Ward 3

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1Round 2% Final
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Michael Rainville45.14%6,0276,90754.97%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Steve Fletcher (incumbent)39.16%5,2295,65845.03%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Merv Moorhead8.72%1,165
Independent Hope Hennessey6.65%888
Write-in N/A0.33%44
Exhausted ballots7885.90%
Valid votes13,353
Threshold6,677
Undervotes1,085
Turnout48.9%14,438
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [14]

Ward 4

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party LaTrisha Vetaw60.63%4,391
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Phillipe Cunningham (incumbent) 30.32%2,196
We the PeopleLeslie Davis8.77%635
Write-in N/A0.28%20
Total votes7,500
Threshold3,751
Turnout41.1%7,500
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [15]

Ward 5

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1Round 2Round 3% Final
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Jeremiah Ellison (incumbent) 31.94%1,7521,8552,11751.12%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Kristel Porter24.70%1,3551,4992,02448.88%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Victor Martinez24.65%1,3521,495
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Suleiman Isse9.85%540
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Cathy Spann4.47%245
Independent Elijah Norris-Holliday3.56%195
WitnessJames Seymour0.71%39
Write-in N/A0.13%7
Exhausted ballots6361,34432.46%
Valid votes5,485
Threshold2,743
Undervotes131
Turnout33.9%5,616
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [16]

Ward 6

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Jamal Osman (incumbent) 59.41%3,722
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Abdirizak Bihi39.39%2,468
Write-in N/A1.20%75
Total votes6,871
Threshold3,436
Turnout43.5%6,871
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [17]

Ward 7

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Lisa Goodman (incumbent)61.91%7,206
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Nick Kor26.34%3,066
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Teqen Zéa-Aida7.16%833
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Joanna Diaz4.10%477
Write-in N/A0.49%57
Total votes12,329
Threshold6,165
Turnout54.0%12,329
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [18]

Ward 8

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Andrea Jenkins (incumbent)84.92%9,013
Republican Party of Minnesota Robert Sullentrop13.83%1,468
Write-in N/A1.25%133
Total votes11,326
Threshold5,664
Turnout59.5%11,326
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [19]

Ward 9

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Jason Chavez56.89%3,792
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Mickey Moore13.59%906
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Yussuf Haji12.63%842
Republican Party of Minnesota Ross Tennsesson4.70%313
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Alfred "AJ" Flowers, Jr.3.98%265
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Brenda Short3.71%247
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Carmen Means3.23%215
Social JusticeJon Randall Denison1.20%280
Write-in N/A0.09%6
Total votes6,983
Threshold3,492
Turnout49.5%6,983
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [20]

Ward 10

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1Round 2Round 3% Final
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Aisha Chughtai 36.91%3,9344,1635,36059.95%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Alicia Gibson18.75%1,9993,0223,58140.05%
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Katie Jones 19.57%2,0862,476
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Chris Parsons15.10%1,610
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party David Wheeler5.86%625
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Ubah Nur3.51%374
— Write-in 0.29%31
Exhausted ballots9981,71819.21%
Valid votes10,659
Threshold5,330
Undervotes686
Turnout48.7%11,345
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [21]
Alluvial diagram of vote-preference distribution for Ward 10 2021 Minneapolis City Council Ward 10 alluvial.svg
Alluvial diagram of vote-preference distribution for Ward 10

Ward 11

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Emily Koski 58.33%7,789
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Jeremy Schroeder (incumbent)30.32%4,049
Independent Kurt Michael Anderson5.20%695
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Dillon Gherna3.41%455
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Albert T. Ross2.58%345
Write-in N/A0.16%21
Total votes13,877
Threshold6,939
Turnout65.2%13,877
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [22]

Ward 12

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Andrew Johnson (incumbent) 64.83%9,940
Independent Nancy Ford29.80%4,569
Socialist Workers Party David Rosenfeld5.04%773
Write-in N/A0.33%51
Total votes16,083
Threshold8,042
Turnout65.9%16,083
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [23]

Ward 13

PartyCandidate% 1st
Choice		Round 1
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Linea Palmisano (incumbent) 66.19%10,883
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Mike Norton19.96%3,282
Republican Party of Minnesota Ken Salway7.94%1,305
Green Party of Minnesota Kati Medford3.39%557
Independent Bob Reuer2.44%401
Write-in N/A0.09%14
Total votes17,028
Threshold8,515
Turnout67.8%17,028
Source: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services [24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Running for office". vote.minneapolismn.gov. City of Minneapolis. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  2. ↑ Rio, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del; Eligon, John; Hassan, Adeel (May 25, 2021). "A Timeline of What Has Happened in the Year Since George Floyd's Death". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ Halter, Nick (November 4, 2021). "Minneapolis City Council leans slightly moderate after 2021 election". Axios. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  4. ↑ Gustavo, Solomon (November 4, 2021). "The final tally: five Minneapolis Council incumbents unseated in 2021 city election". MinnPost. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  5. ↑ Read, Katy (December 19, 2020). "Minneapolis City Council Member Alondra Cano won't seek re-election". Star Tribune.
  6. ↑ Navratil, Liz; Walsh, Paul (November 9, 2020). "Minneapolis Council President Lisa Bender won't seek re-election". Star Tribune.
  7. 1 2 3 "2021 Endorsements". Twin Cities DSA . Democratic Socialists of America. August 10, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  8. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 1 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  9. ↑ Graham-Squire, Adam; McCune, David (March 6, 2023). "An Examination of Ranked Choice Voting in the United States, 2004-2022". p. 10. arXiv: 2301.12075 [econ.GN]. 2021 Ward 2 City Council Election in Minneapolis, MN … This election cannot demonstrate a Condorcet failure as we have defined it because there is no Condorcet winner. All other elections in the database contain a Condorcet winner.
  10. ↑ McCune, David; McCune, Lori (December 26, 2021). "The Curious Case of the 2021 Minneapolis Ward 2 City Council Election". arXiv: 2111.09846 [econ.GN]. Arab wins a head-to-head matchup against Gordon 4324 to 4098, Gordon wins a matchup against [Wonsley] Worlobah 3708 to 3635, and Worlobah wins a matchup against Arab 4056 to 4037.
  11. ↑ "An Evaluation of Borda Count Variations Using Ranked Choice Voting Data". arXiv.org e-Print archive. January 8, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  12. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (March 13, 2024). "2021 City Council Ward 2 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  13. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 2 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  14. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 3 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  15. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 4 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  16. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 5 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  17. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 6 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  18. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 7 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  19. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 8 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  20. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 9 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  21. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 10 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  22. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 11 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  23. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 12 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  24. ↑ Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 13 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.