The 2021 election season has attracted extraordinary attention. The events of the past two years - a worldwide pandemic that profoundly disrupted daily life and the killing of George Floyd that sparked a bitter debate over policing, race and justice - are playing out in contests for city councils and school boards. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul will elect mayors in ranked choice voting and also consider ballot questions that could shape the future of both cities. Ranked-choice voting will also be featured in a few other metro cities, as well as Minneapolis council and parks races.
Search for a county, city, ballot question, or candidate statewide. Polls closed at 8 p.m. in Minnesota. Unlike in 2020, mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day will not be counted. In ranked-choice contests that do not have a majority-winner in the first-choice round, ballots will go through a reallocation process that will stretch later into the week.
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MINNEAPOLIS CITY QUESTION 1
Described as the “strong mayor” amendment, this measure would change the charter to prevent council members from giving individual directions to city staff, including department heads. Read more on the question here and in our charter amendents guide.
MINNEAPOLIS CITY QUESTION 2
This proposal would remove the requirement in the city's charter for Minneapolis to operate a Police Department, eliminate a minimum staffing requirement for officers and create a new agency called the Department of Public Safety. The mayor and City Council would need to flesh out the details of the new agency and provide funding for it. Read more on the question here and in our charter amendents guide.
MINNEAPOLIS CITY QUESTION 3
This amendment would authorize the City Council to regulate rents on private residential property in the city. If adopted, the City Council would determine the details of how a rent control program would work, including the maximum amount a landlord could raise rents. Read more on the question here and in our charter amendents guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Mayor
Incumbent Jacob Frey is asking voters for a second term, but he’s running in a field of 17 candidates and facing criticism from all flanks in an election where the question of public safety dominates all others. Opponents Sheila Nezhad, Kate Knuth, AJ Awed and Clint Conner have all raised significant money in their bids to lead Minnesota’s largest city. Read more on the race and find candidate information in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 1
Kevin Reich, who is seeking his fourth term, is the only Minneapolis DFL council member who lost the endorsement to a challenger this year. Elliott Payne has run on a police reform platform. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 2
Cam Gordon, the council's only Green Party member who is running for his fifth term, faces four challengers who are targeting him from both sides of the political spectrum. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 3
Incumbent Steve Fletcher is defending his record as a critic of the Minneapolis Police Department amid a crime surge downtown and across the city. His opponents are Hope Hennessy, Merv Moorhead and Michael Rainville. Read more about the race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 4
Incumbent Phillipe Cunningham was elected in 2017 after serving as former Mayor Betsy Hodges' senior policy aide. His main competitor is LaTrisha Vetaw, vice president of the Minneapolis Park Board and director of health policy at NorthPoint. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 5
Incumbent Jeremiah Ellison, a strong supporter of the rent control amendment, is running for a second term against a field that includes a pro-police pastor, Victor Martinez, and Kristel Porter, executive director of MN Renewable Now. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 6
Sixth Ward residents will choose between two Somali-born Democrats: Council Member Jamal Osman, a first-term incumbent, and Abdirizak Bihi, a longtime community activist. The two have contrasting views on policing and the division of power in City Hall. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 7
Longtime council member Lisa Goodman, one of three council members who refrained from vowing to end the police department, won the DFL endorsement for another term. She faces three challengers. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 8
Incumbent Andrea Jenkins, the council vice president, won the DFL endorsement for re-election in the ward where George Floyd was killed. She faces a sole challenger, Robert Sullentrop, a Republican. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 9
Eight candidates are vying for the open seat vacated by Alondra Cano, including DFL-endorsed Jason Chavez, a Minnesota legislative aide, Mickey Moore, a retired small business owner, and Yussuf Haji, who owns an advertising and translation business. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 10
In the seat left open by Council President Lisa Bender, six candidates are running. Aisha Chughtai, the DFL-endorsed candidate, also leads in fundraising. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 11
The DFL failed to endorse a candidate in this south Minneapolis ward where Jeremy Schroeder, a prominent advocate of affordable housing, is a first-term incumbent. Emily Koski, daughter of former Minneapolis Mayor Al Hofstede, is the most visible challenger. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 12
DFL-endorsed incumbent Andrew Johnson, a former systems engineer running for his third term, defends his work on the 2040 plan. He faces Nancy Ford, a small-business owner, and David Rosenfeld, a retail worker. Both oppose the policing amendment and criticize the 2040 plan. Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
MINNEAPOLIS Council Member Ward 13
Incumbent Linea Palmisano, a former product development manager, won the DFL endorsement in seeking her third term. Mike Norton, a small-business owner who has raised the most money of the challengers, is critical of Palmisano's "pace of change." Read more about this race here and in our Voter Guide.
ST. PAUL CITY QUESTION 1 (St. Paul)
This proposed ordinance would limit annual rent increases to 3%, making it among the strictest rent control policies in the nation. Researchers disagree about the effectiveness of rent control in keeping housing affordable. Read more on the ballot question here and in our charter amendent guide.
ST. PAUL Mayor (St. Paul)
Incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter faces seven challengers in his bid for another four years at the city's helm after a first term that saw the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police and subsequent civil unrest. Carter won the DFL endorsement and has far outraised his opponents. Find candidate information in our Voter Guide.