The race for Hennepin County attorney has drawn national attention to what has become a flashpoint in thinking about crime, police, and law enforcement issues.
Following a non-partisan primary involving seven candidates, the list was winnowed down to two: former prosecutor and retired judge Martha Holton Dimick and former criminal defense attorney Mary Moriarty.
It's hard to find two candidates with such different approaches to putting the breaks on crime in the state's most populous county.
Dimick knows this is not just a Minneapolis problem, gaining endorsements from mayors of a number of cities in the county.
"I will appeal to independents, to Republicans, to Democrats, I want to pull everyone in," said Dimick.
Moriarty's experience is trying to keep accused criminal out of jail, but she says that shouldn't disqualify her.
"I've watched prosecution for decades, I know how it works, I know how they react, and I can think outside the box," said Moriarty.
This is the first election for Hennepin County Attorney since the death of George Floyd, the unrest that followed, and the rise in crime in Minneapolis.
"What we have with the two candidates are two different perspectives on how to think about policing, and how the county attorney's office will work with police," said Hamline Univeristy political science professor David Schultz, who points out that the race has drawn drawn national attention, with both promising to put their own unique stamp on how to run a prosecutors officer that includes more than two-hundred attorneys.
"One represents more the establishment, that is judge Dimick, who has said that her approach to dealing with crime is basically tougher sentences and to do more prosecution," Schultz said.
As for the Moriarty...
"Moriatry is probably more closely aligned to what has been called 'defund the police' movement, and for some people they would say her relationship with the police would be very different," he said.
While Dimick picked up endorsement from the mayors of many cities in Hennepin County, Moriarty is backed by the Minnesota Democratic Party.
"At the end of the day, it may not matter," said Schultz. "It's really going to matter in terms of who actually delivers the votes on election day."