Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey reelected to 2nd term

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has been reelected to a second term.

Frey was declared the winner more than 49.1% of the votes election officials tabulated the ranked-choice votes. Kate Knuth made it to the final round, but only came away with 38.2% of the total votes. 

Frey, 40, was first elected mayor in 2017. His leadership came under scrutiny following the unrest over the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. He clashed with the city council over how best to reform the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of Floyd’s death.

Frey said the election marks a "turning point" for the city. 

Things certainly went his way on Tuesday. The public safety amendment, which Frey opposed, was rejected while the "strong mayor" amendment passed. The "strong mayor" amendment strengthens the power of the mayor’s office by shifting some powers from the city council to the mayor. Previously, the mayor and city council shared executive powers, with the mayor having direct authority over the police department and little else. 

Frey said in his second term he will push the Minnesota Legislature for changes to the arbitration process. He still has not said whether Chief Medaria Arradondo, however, will stay past January. 

Frey says he thinks this can be a "unity" moment at city hall. Seven of the 13 city council members will be new, with some of his toughest critics on the council losing their seats. 

Minneapolis uses ranked choice voting for elections. With ranked choice voting, voters can choose to rank up to three candidates for all offices on the ballot, including mayor. If your first choice is eliminated during vote tabulation, your second-choice candidate gets your vote. If that candidate is later eliminated, your third choice gets your vote. If one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the first round, the counting stops and that candidate is declared the winner.