2017 Minneapolis mayoral election

Betsy Hodges was elected mayor of Minneapolis on November 5, 2013, out of a field of 35 candidates, with her term beginning on January 2, 2014. In response to the large candidate field, the Minneapolis Charter Commission approved a referendum increasing the filing fee from $20 to $500.[1] The proposal was approved by voters on November 4, 2014.[2]

In a blog letter dated November 7, 2016, a housing activist and longtime Minneapolis resident known as Captain Jack Sparrow announced his candidacy for mayor in the 2017 election; this was his third election campaign for office in the past 6 years.[3] Nekima Levy-Pounds, an attorney, civil rights activist, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, was one of the first candidates to begin their campaign, with an announcement on November 14, 2016. Hodges announced her re-election campaign on December 15, 2016. City Council member Jacob Frey and filmmaker Aswar Rahman entered in early January, while State Representative Raymond Dehn and theatre executive Tom Hoch announced their campaigns in February.[4][5][6] David John Wilson, an active member of the Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, entered the race during the candidate filing period in August 2017, but he declined to identify by party affiliation in favor of the stated principle "Rainbows Butterflies Unicorns".[7] Ian Simpson ran under the platform of the Idea Party, which asks the citizens of Minneapolis to pitch in their own creative solutions for change.[8][9]

Formal candidate filing began on August 1, 2017. Political parties held caucuses and conventions in the spring and summer, deciding whether to endorse a candidate for election. The DFL did not endorse a Minneapolis mayoral candidate at its July 2017 convention.[10]

On October 27, the Star Tribune editorial staff endorsed Jacob Frey for mayor.[11] This was followed by an endorsement of Frey by the Minnesota Daily on October 30.[12]

• Raymond Dehn, State Representative (District 59B)[13][14]
• Al Flowers, community activist[15][16][17]
• Jacob Frey, City Council member (Third Ward)[18]
• Tom Hoch, former president of the Hennepin Theatre Trust, former deputy executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority[19][20]
• Betsy Hodges, incumbent mayor[21][22]
• Nekima Levy-Pounds, civil rights activist, former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, founding director of the Community Justice Project at the University of St. Thomas law school[23][24][25]
• Jeffrey Sterling Olson[16]
• Aswar Rahman, filmmaker, businessman[26][13]
  • Suspended campaign on November 2, 2017, and subsequently endorsed Jacob Frey.[27]
• Gregg Iverson, retired employee of Minnesota Department of Transportation[28][29]

• L.A. Nik, Author and podcast host[30][31][32]

• Troy Benjegerdes[33]

• Captain Jack Sparrow, urban housing and Occupy movement activist[3][29]

• David Rosenfeld[34]

• Charlie Gers[29]

• David John Wilson[29][35]

• Ian Simpson[9][8]

• 
  Troy Benjegerdes
• 
  Raymond Dehn
• 
  Al Flowers
• 
  Jacob Frey
• 
  Charlie Gers
• 
  Tom Hoch
• 
  Betsy Hodges
• 
  Gregg Iverson
• 
  Nekima Levy-Pounds
• 
  Aswar Rahman
• 
  Ian Simpson
• 
  Captain Jack Sparrow
• 
  David John Wilson "Dave Unicorn"

• Not pictured: Jeffrey Sterling Olson, David Rosenfeld L.A. Nik