The Minnesota DFL has revoked the Minneapolis arm of the party’s endorsement of Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh in the Minneapolis mayoral race.

Last month, in an upset, Fateh won the Minneapolis DFL endorsement over incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey.

On Thursday, Minnesota DFL chair Richard Carlbom said, “After a thoughtful and transparent review of the challenges, the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee found substantial failures in the Minneapolis Convention’s voting process on July 19th, including an acknowledgement that a mayoral candidate was errantly eliminated from contention.”

Carlbom added, “Now it’s time to turn our focus to unity and our common goal: electing DFL leaders focused on making life more affordable for Minnesotans and holding Republicans accountable for the chaos and confusion they’ve unleashed on Minnesotans.”

Frey’s campaign earlier this month submitted a challenge to the state DFL over Fateh’s endorsement. The campaign said there was an “extraordinarily high” number of uncounted votes produced by the “highly flawed and untested” electronic voting system used at the convention. 

After the Minnesota DFL’s announcement, Frey’s campaign released the following statement.

“I am proud to be a member of a party that believes in correcting our mistakes, and I am glad that this inaccurate and obviously flawed process was set aside,” Frey said. “I look forward to having a full and honest debate with Senator Fateh about our city’s future, with the outcome now resting squarely where it should — with all the people of Minneapolis.”

WCCO has reached out to Fateh for comment.

A spokesperson for the political group Mpls for the Many called the DFL decision “unfortunate” and accused the party of putting “its thumb firmly on the scales of democracy.”

“The results from the July 19th convention were clear and resounding,” Mpls for the Many chair Chelsea McFarren said. “Minneapolis residents are overwhelmingly ready for a new mayor and the majority of them support State Senator Omar Fateh.”

Fateh is running as a Democratic Socialist. He has represented the South Minneapolis area where George Floyd was killed since 2021. He’s championed the cause of Uber drivers, and backed an additional tax for affordable housing, rent stabilization and a $20 minimum wage. In 2021, he supported a losing charter amendment that critics say would have defunded the police.

Like other political figures, Fateh had to return $11,000 of contributions with links to Feeding Our Future. In 2022, a Senate ethics committee complaint against him was upheld, and a second complaint was dismissed. 

The Minneapolis DFL endorsement is considered a major asset to any candidate who receives it because of the money and resources the endorsement provides.

This is breaking news. WCCO will continue to update as more information is available.

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Esme Murphy

Esme Murphy, a reporter and Sunday morning anchor for WCCO-TV, has been a member of the WCCO-TV staff since December 1990. She is also a weekend talk show host on WCCO Radio. Born and raised in New York City, Esme ventured into reporting after graduating from Harvard University.