Minneapolis mayoral candidates believe ranked-choice voting could defeat Mayor Frey
Cities all over the state will be holding municipal elections in under three weeks. Four of the state's largest cities — St. Paul, Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and Bloomington — will be using ranked-choice voting for their elections.
In previous elections, some of the ranked-choice systems have had unexpected outcomes. For example, in the 2013 Minneapolis mayoral race, it took 33 rounds of balloting over three days before Betsy Hodges was declared the winner over Mark Andrew.
Flash forward a decade to the 2023 Minneapolis City Council race in Ward 8. In the first round, Soren Stevenson beat Councilmember Andrea Jenkins, but neither reached the 50% threshold. That election went to the second round, when the second-place votes were assigned, and Jenkins finally met that 50% threshold; she won the council seat.
"Some people would say it's not fair. But also, some people are going to say that if someone's going to take office, they should get 50% plus, that it should be a majority," said Professor David Schultz with Hamline University, who is writing a book on ranked-choice voting.
Looking to the 2025 Minneapolis mayoral race, Minnesota Sen. Omar Fateh, Rev. DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton have formed a pact to lobby for each other's second- and third-place votes. Schultz says together they are using ranked-choice voting in an effort to block Mayor Jacob Frey from reelection.
Ranked-choice voting has also impacted election day turnouts in past contests. According to FairVote, an organization that advocates for ranked-choice voting, Minnetonka saw a 50% voter turnout increase from 2021 to 2023.
Nationally, Alaska and Maine use ranked-choice voting for some statewide elections. In 2024, an effort to expand ranked-choice voting to cities around the state failed in the state legislature.