Will Minneapolis' City Council get more progressive in November elections?
MINNEAPOLIS -- This November, the entire Minneapolis City Council will be up for election.
The council has been at the heart of controversies emerging in the aftermath of George Floyd's death. It is once again being torn between its liberal wing and its more progressive wing.
The battle at the Minneapolis City Council between council members that are to the left of center and to the far left of center continues. One voice that has emerged as a moderate is council President Andrea Jenkins. She has been trying to help broker a compromise on where a new 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis should be located. While Jenkins supported the defund the police movement, she has largely sided with Mayor Jacob Frey on policing issues.
Jenkins smashed barriers in 2017 when she became the first openly Black transgender woman to be elected to office in the U.S. But despite her progressive background, Jenkins failed to win the DFL nomination for re-election this year. Instead, the Minneapolis DFL endorsed someone widely considered more progressive than Jenkins, Soren Stevenson. Stevenson also won the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Stevenson lost an eye when he was hit by rubber bullets fired by Minneapolis police in the riots after Floyd's murder. And for that he won a $2.4 million settlement from the city. He is a strong supporter of rent control and voiced concerns about homeless camp evictions. Jenkins has been skeptical of rent control proposals and has taken a harder line on homeless camps.
Jenkins and Stevenson will face off in November for the Ward 8 council seat. While Jenkins would be considered left wing almost anywhere else, in Minneapolis she is suddenly a moderate. That may have cost her the DFL endorsement, but she is expressing confidence about the November election.
Jenkins was a guest on WCCO Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.
"I really consider myself pragmatic. I really want to get things done," she said. "I think we have to work with everybody in our community to be able to do that, and that's the path that I have walked down."
Jenkins represents the city's Ward 8, which is located in south-central Minneapolis. The November Minneapolis City Council elections will once again be conducted using ranked choice voting.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Joseph Dames every Sunday morning at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.