Ilhan Omar, prominent Minneapolis Dems slam DFL’s decision to vacate Omar Fateh mayoral endorsement

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and a slew of left-wing officials slammed the Minnesota DFL’s decision vacate the Minneapolis DFL’s endorsement of Sen. Omar Fateh for mayor of the city. In a lengthy statement, the group said the decision “will be a stain” on the party.

“A small group of DFL board members, a majority living outside Minneapolis, met privately to overturn the will of Minneapolis delegates who volunteered, organized, and participated in a months-long DFL process,” wrote the group. “It is inexcusable to overturn the results weeks after the convention because board members did not like the outcome.”

On Thursday, the state DFL officially vacated the Minneapolis DFL’s endorsement of Fateh after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey asked the party to nullify the endorsement citing problems at the city’s convention. Frey and Fateh, both DFLers, are opponents in this year’s Minneapolis mayoral election.

Among other things, the state party found that the convention’s electronic voting system was flawed, a mayoral candidate was improperly dropped from the second round of voting, and multiple delegate issues occurred.

In addition to vacating the mayoral endorsement, the state DFL barred another endorsing convention from taking place and put the Minneapolis DFL on probation for two years.

Vacating the endorsement did not sit well with Omar who was joined by state legislators, county commissioners, and city councilors in condemning the state party. The group included Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, Rep. Mohamud Noor, city councilors Elliot Payne; Aisha Chughtai; Jamal Osman; Jason Chavez; and Aurin Chowdhury, and others.

“It is inexcusable to overturn the results weeks after the convention because board members did not like the outcome,” said the group. “Not only does this decision set an extremely dangerous precedent, it will undermine the DFL endorsing process going forward and fails to center the will of delegates.”

In addition to blasting the DFL’s decision, the public officials talked about a wider division within the party and appeared to criticize members of their party who are not as far-left as themselves.

“Right now, there is a clear tension between the progressive democrats who are challenging the status quo and moderate democrats,” wrote the group. “It is extremely disheartening that Omar Fateh, the first Black mayoral candidate to be DFL-endorsed in the last three decades, will have his endorsement revoked.”

Further, Omar and her colleagues said Fateh won the mayoral endorsement, vacating the endorsement will lead to voters feeling unwelcome in the party, and the decision will harm Democrats’ ability to win elections in the future.

The 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election

At the moment, the 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election is viewed as a contest between Frey and Fateh. A former city councilor, Frey is serving his second term as mayor after winning the office in 2017 and 2021. Fateh is in his second term as a state senator.

Both candidates are decidedly left-wing, but Frey is viewed as more mainstream given his clashes with the far-left members of the Minneapolis City Council. Meanwhile, Fateh has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Like Mamdani, Fateh is Muslim and aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.

Frey has received endorsements from Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt. Meanwhile, Fateh has been endorsed by a collection of state legislators and city officials, including swing-district Sens. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, and Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud.

The election, which is conducted via ranked-choice voting, will take place on Nov. 4th. Early voting begins Sept. 19th and runs through Nov. 3rd.

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