Wedge LIVE 2017 Voter Guide: Minneapolis City Council

This post comes a little late! But I've been busy volunteering for a candidate (you should be too!) Election day is Tuesday. This is your abbreviated Wedge LIVE! Voter Guide for competitive city council races in Minneapolis. (For a non-partisan voter guide please see our sister publication, MSP Votes.)

Minneapolis politicians attend protest march comparing bikes to Nazis

"Nazi Lane" signs dripping with fake blood (photo: Shane Morin)

Minneapolis election season has collided with backlash to a pair of bike lanes recently installed on 26th and 28th streets. Previous negative reaction to those lanes has mainly consisted of Facebook posts, a never-ending thread of commentary on the Nextdoor website, and Jon Tevlin of the Star Tribune fanning the flames. Today the bikelash became an actual real-life protest with signs reading "Nazi Lanes," "Mafia Lanes," and "Suck It Lanes."

Downtown business interests pay for mailers supporting conservative city council members

[Post updated with additional waves of mailers sent on behalf of conservative city council members aligned with Barb Johnson. See this post to read how the group funding these mailers has aligned with the right-wing PAC that helped flip the Minnesota House and Senate from the DFL to Republicans. Minneapolis Works is supporting a slate of candidates that includes incumbents Lisa Goodman, Council President Barb Johnson, Blong Yang, Kevin Reich, John Quincy; and challengers Tim Bildsoe (an actual Republican), and Mohamed Farah.]

There's a political fund called "Minneapolis Works!" sending mailers supporting Ward 7 incumbent Lisa Goodman [and a bunch of other candidates, as indicated above]. On both sides of the mailer, a diverse collection of disembodied thumbs can be seen endorsing Lisa Goodman as the "proven progressive."

Conservative Minneapolis incumbents running scared from democracy

Blong Yang; Barb Johnson; Lisa Goodman

Wards 4 and 5 in Minneapolis are composed of 14 North Side neighborhoods where people of color are the majority. By a wide margin, these wards have the lowest turnout in Minneapolis municipal elections. These wards have also produced two of the most conservative members of the Minneapolis City Council, Barb Johnson and Blong Yang.

Ward 10 candidate forum overrun by zany, unprepared challengers

Ward 10 incumbent Lisa Bender puts hands to her face in disbelief

Tuesday night's Ward 10 forum got weird when Republican candidate Bruce Lundeen opened his mouth.

Lundeen said that non-profits are the "path to the urban plantation, which is basically what we keep up in north Minneapolis."

Election 2017 Calendar

We're going to try to track Minneapolis candidate forums and other key election-related dates on this calendar. You'll also see a sidebar calendar on the desktop version of the site. I'm asking readers and campaigns to help track down anything we've missed: contact us via Twitter or send an email to newsroom@wedgelive.com.

The Great Big Mayoral Roundup

Lots of big news swirling around the race for Minneapolis Mayor.

Carol Becker sues Mayor Hodges. Becker, a member of the Board of Estimate and Taxation, says the budget document the Mayor delivered is insufficient and violates the city's charter. The mayor says she has complied with the charter and will deliver a more robust budget presentation in September.

Groundbreaking Campaign Finance Transparency Tool for Minneapolis Elections

Today, MSP Votes is debuting a groundbreaking new campaign finance transparency tool. We have combed through the finance reports of every City Council, Mayoral, and Park Board candidate for the last two years (from January 1, 2016 to July 25, 2017). We have compiled the most significant donations (nearly 1000!) and plugged that data into MSP Votes (alongside all the great info you can already access in our candidate profiles).

Tenth Ward Update: Saralyn Romanishan enters Ward 10 City Council race

Following the short-lived campaign of Scott Fine, and the blunderous beginnings of candidate David Schorn, Ward 10 now has a third city council challenger: Saralyn Romanishan. Romanishan is best known for her work running the Facebook page Minneapolis Residents for Responsible Development Coalition (MRRDC).

She's risen to become a leading figure in a movement of southwest Minneapolis anti-apartment activists who have become increasingly bold in the last few years, engaging in acts of vandalism such as letting the air out of the car tires of a worker who was removing appliances from a vacant house [VIDEO].

The expressed political views of Ward 10 City Council candidate Saralyn Romanishan

Below is a selection of Saralyn Romanishan's political views. You should also read this other blog post explaining why I think she's a frightening possibility for City Council.

Note: this page may be updated. 

History teacher turned Council candidate David Schorn blunders all the facts in July 4th tribute to Founding Fathers

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence

David Schorn's July Fourth tribute to the Founding Fathers turned into yet another blunder. According to his bio, Schorn spent three decades teaching history and government to unsuspecting children. Now he's prepared to unleash his total ignorance on Ward 10.

Blundering Ward 10 candidate David Schorn earns endorsement, goofs announcement

Indorsement Alert

Ward 10 candidate David Schorn has been "indorsed" by the Minneapolis Police Federation, according to the "Schorn for Ward 10" campaign Facebook page. Many observers were amused by the fact that Schorn, having already committed a number of blunders in the early days of his campaign, misspelled "endorsed" on his Facebook header image.

Tom Hoch rides wave of cash and fawning media coverage, achieving "plausible" status

[Appreciate relentless Tom Hoch coverage? Support Wedge LIVE!]

Like me, you may be grappling with the question: Why should I take mayoral candidate Tom Hoch seriously? He's kind of an uninspiring figure, running a conservative campaign by Minneapolis standards, and I don't know a single person who's supporting him.

Tenth Ward Update: Candidate David Schorn blunders into Ward 10 City Council race

This is the second part of an ongoing series about the hapless white dude city council candidates of Ward 10. Read Part I here.

A guy named David Schorn has entered the race for the Ward 10 City Council seat currently held by Lisa Bender. Schorn is the second candidate to announce a challenge to Bender.

2017 Wedge LIVE / MSP yimby Candidate Survey

Wedge LIVE has partnered with MSP yimby for a housing-focused 2017 Minneapolis candidate questionnaire. Thanks to all the candidates who participated.

If you enjoy our 2017 election coverage and other original content, please consider supporting us on Patreon.

Minneapolis 2017: Campaign Digest #2

This will get you caught up on all the Minneapolis election news that's happened since the last campaign digest.

Tenth Ward Preview: Scott Fine is running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 10

Scott Fine is running for Minneapolis City Council against Lisa Bender in Ward 10.

We'll start with a few things about our current council member. I find this endorsement of Lisa Bender very persuasive:

In three short years, she has passed more progressive ordinances than other Council Members have managed to pass in two or three whole terms. Parking reform, ADUs, flexibility for homeless shelters, a nation-leading Complete Streets policy, parklets, sick and safe time, relaxing regulations for beekeeping... I could go on, but won't.

The quality I appreciate most in a politician is the sense that they are running for office because they care about policies more than just the idea of getting elected. Lisa Bender cares about policy; she wants to make those policies happen; and she's talented enough to have been successful making them happen in her first three years in office. Most importantly, she inspires enough confidence in her colleagues that they're willing to follow her lead.

What's Going on in Ward 9?

(For Minneapolis election year news beyond Ward 9, read this post.)

Gary Schiff announced his campaign to challenge Ward 9 Council Member Alondra Cano a little more than a week ago. Schiff held the Ward 9 seat until running for Mayor in 2013. Since his announcement, a series of open letters have been addressed to Schiff on Facebook questioning the legitimacy of his candidacy.

Minneapolis 2017: Campaign Digest

First, a public service announcement: City Council incumbents of varying degrees of bad are being challenged in Wards 1, 4, 5, 7, and 11.

DFL caucuses are April 4th. Consider donating, volunteering and--especially--caucusing for one of the challengers in these races. 2017 is your last chance to decide which candidates get to spend the next four years making decisions about police reform, transit, zoning, bikes, and whatever other local stuff you care about.

City government is the easiest level of politics for one person (you!) to have an impact. This is your moment!

Ward 1: Jillia Pessenda, Zach Wefel (incumbent Kevin Reich)

Ward 4: Phillipe Cunningham, Stephanie Gasca (incumbent Barb Johnson)

Ward 5: Jeremiah Ellison (incumbent Blong Yang)

Ward 7: Janne Flisrand (incumbent Lisa Goodman)

Ward 11: Erica Mauter, Jeremy Schroeder (incumbent John Quincy)

Like the above races, Ward 9 is also competitive, but Wedge LIVE is advising the civilian population to evacuate the area. Do not get involved in this conflict. For details, read the Ward 9 update.