The race for Minneapolis mayor is starting to heat up already, still eight months away from the actual election.
But one key participant in the city is chiming in, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara. While not officially endorsing current Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in the upcoming election, he's certainly singing his praises.
"The mayor is the reason why I'm here. That's just a fact."
O'Hara telling WCCO Radio's Adam and Jordana Tuesday that the mayor has stood by him when the going was rough, particularly in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and the aftermath.
"You know, when the mob came to his house and his pregnant wife was upstairs, and people were going crazy around the world, on the entire planet, blaming this police department, he stood up and said, 'no, I'm not gonna disband the police.' With his body on the line, literally, that's leadership," O'Hara explains.
He adds that Frey also stood by him personally through some trying times over the past year.
"He stood by me in all of this other chaos, when people were saying, 'hey, the chief should go, just fire the chief,' as if that's gonna fix any problem," O'Hara said.
But Frey is also going to face some challenges. A number of candidates have already come forward. That includes City Council Member Emily Koski (Ward 11). Appearing on the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar, Koski says it is time for new leadership and time to strengthen the city.
"I know the way to do that is to make sure that we elect leadership that's gonna put residents first, and that makes sure that we have leadership that's gonna be collaborative, accountable and transparent," Koski explained. "And I know Minneapolis deserves better, so this is why I'm running."
When it comes to police enforcement and safety within the city - certainly one of this race's key priorities - Koski stands by the reforms laid out in the city's consent decree with the State of Minnesota and with the Department of Justice (which could be ended by the Trump administration).
"First, we need to absolutely make sure that we're upholding our consent decree and the settlement agreement for our residents," Koski says. "We also need to make sure that we deliver real justice for victims, and that's clearing the backlog of over 5,000 open investigations that are sitting in our city right now."
While there was an element of "defund the police" that came out of the City Council following Floyd's murder, Koski says she's not one who believes that is a path forward. Koski has been public in her criticism of Frey and an inability to find common ground with the City Council.
"There's an element of, you know, groups in Minneapolis who want to move in that direction," she says. "I've never stood to want to defund the police. I think we need to make sure that we're strengthening our police department, giving them the tools to support our residents, and then also holding them accountable to make sure that they are treating our residents right and giving the residents the service that they deserve."
Other candidates who have come forward for Minneapolis mayor include Plymouth Congregational Church Minister DeWayne Davis, health care chaplain and bereavement counselor Howard Dotsen, State Senator Omar Fateh, former attorney Jazz Hampton and a former homeless resident who rebuilt her life, Brenda Short.
Minneapolis uses ranked choice voting in municipal elections. With this type of voting, you can rank up to three candidates for each office. There are criticism of ranked choice including difficulty for voters in the process, the difficulty counting ballots and finding a winner, the number of candidates on the ballot, plus it has the potential to reward more extreme candidates.
The entire City Council is also up for re-election in 2025. Former Council President Andrea Jenkins has already said she will not be running.