Hoch Called Out For Taking 'Low Road' In Halloween Facebook Post

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minneapolis mayoral candidate Tom Hoch is drawing criticism from one of his rivals following a Halloween Facebook post in which he said it was "a scary thought" to have four more years of the current leadership.

The Facebook post specifically targeted Mayor Betsy Hodges and Council Member Jacob Frey, both of whom Hoch is running against in the Nov. 7 election.

"Everything that should be up is down…and everything that should be down is up," Hoch wrote in the post. "Crime is up. Gun violence is up. Arrests are down. Homelessness is up…we drift from crisis to crisis in city hall."

In his own Facebook post, Frey responded, saying that he was disappointed that Hoch took the "low road." While he agreed that the city needs new leadership, the council member said that what Minneapolis currently lacks is a leader who unites the city's different groups.

However, on Monday, Frey was the only candidate to sharply criticize his competition during a debate at Minnesota Public Radio. He disparaged Hodges, just not by name.

"Over the past several years, we have had a 200 percent uptick in violent crimes," he said. "Specifically, we have had some of the worst police community relations in a long time."

In general, direct attacks from one candidate to another are rare in this race. That may be in part due to the city's ranked choice system, in which voters pick their first, second and third choices on the boll.

There are 16 candidates running for mayor in Minneapolis. Other prominent names on the ticket include State Rep. Raymond Dehn and activist Nekima Levy-Pounds.

Hodges did not respond to Hoch's Facebook post.