NEW: Socialist Wins Democrat Endorsement In Major City

Omar Fateh — a socialist who has in the past claimed he will put his Somali heritage first — won the official endorsement of the Democratic Farm-Labor Party (DFL) on Saturday in his quest to become the next mayor of Minneapolis. With the endorsement in-hand, Fateh is widely projected to defeat incumbent Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey.

Fateh secured the endorsement after a contentious convention that was reportedly marred by technical glitches, among other things. “I am incredibly honored to be the DFL-endorsed candidate for Minneapolis Mayor. 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 posted on X Saturday.

“November 4 is around the corner. Join our coalition of voters who share our vision for a Minneapolis where housing is a human right, public safety means sending the right responders, and city government stands for working people, not corporate donors,” Fateh went on to say.

The Minneapolis-based lawmaker has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the pro-communist mayoral candidate in New York City, who recently secured the Democratic Party nomination after defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in a massive political upset. Like Mamdani, Fateh has vowed to openly defy the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement policy.

“Protecting all of our communities from Donald Trump means not letting MPD interact with ICE, whether it’s for an immigration raid or not. Our residents deserve a mayor who will stand up to Donald Trump and say, ‘No, not in our community,” he said in a July 13 video statement posted to X.

Fateh has also mirrored Mamdani in calling for a rent freeze and has called to increase the city’s minimum wage to $20 per hour by 2028. “As a renter in Stevens Square with a full-time job on top of my part-time Senator job, and a baby on the way, I want to keep money in working people’s pockets and circulating in our local economy. That’s why I’ll work to implement a $20 minimum wage by 2028 & rent stabilization,” he wrote in an additional post on the same date.

Elections in Minneapolis are conducted through ranked choice voting. The DFL endorsement is a major boost to Fateh’s campaign, however, as candidates often exit the race without the campaign infrastructure and funding that comes with it, according to the Minneapolis Times.

Representatives for Mayor Frey — who gained national notoriety for his conduct during the George Floyd riots, which included ordering police to surrender a precinct to looters, weeping over Floyd’s gold-plated casket and dancing with rioters — criticized the process that led to Fateh’s nomination.

“This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention. Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November,” Frey’s campaign manager Sam Schulenberg said in a press release.

The general election in Minneapolis is slated for November 4.