(NewsNation) — Minneapolis voters will choose who their next mayor will be in Tuesday’s general election.
Fifteen candidates are running for the seat, including incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, who is not term-limited and can seek a third term in office, and state Sen. Omar Fateh, who describes himself as a Democratic socialist and has been described in news reportes as “Mamdani of the Midwest,” referring to New York Mayoral candidate and fellow Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Minneapolis implemented ranked choice voting in 2009. According to nonpartisan organization FairVote, the voting structure allows for voters to pick their top three preferred candidates. If a voter’s first choice does not win, their vote automatically counts for their next choice.
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Frey has received the endorsements of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, while Fateh is backed by Rep. Ilhan Omar.
One of the biggest concerns among voters in Minneapolis has been police staffing. Following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, calls for the city to defund the police started to grow. Frey has criticized the measure and told NPR he would never implement it.
Fateh said Frey has “failed to implement meaningful reforms to police, and has vetoed one good solution after another.” One of his campaign promises includes funding public services to help residents going through a crisis.
Polls close in Minneapolis at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Follow election results in the Minneapolis mayoral race in the tracker below:
