Minutes before the Minneapolis mayoral forum on Oct. 15, Mayor Jacob Frey was giving an exclusive interview with Fox 9 while his challengers — Rev. DeWayne Davis, State Sen. Omar Fateh, attorney Jazz Hampton and activist Brenda Short — were already onstage at the Capri Theater awaiting instructions from African American Leadership Forum (AALF) staff.
Staffers told the candidates Frey would arrive shortly. “You guys want me to sit in for him?” Hampton joked. “I got his talking points.” Davis and Fateh laughed.
Nearly an hour later, a packed crowd inside the theater was laughing too, this time at Frey.
Moderator Dr. Yohuru Williams opened the forum by asking how the candidates would address the challenges facing small businesses, including access to financing and resources. Frey highlighted his administration’s Ownership and Opportunity Fund, which received a $3 million boost at the end of 2024.
“You know who is opening more businesses than anybody right now?” Frey said. “Black women. We have to make sure they have the resources they need to succeed.”
But online searches for the fund return broken links and 404 errors. A link on the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development site redirects to a generic business landing page.
Hampton countered with a sports analogy. “Think of this like the Minnesota Vikings,” he said. “If we’ve had a coach for quite a bit of time and haven’t made the progress we expect, sometimes it’s okay to turn the page and start a new chapter with a new leader.” The crowd erupted in applause.
Before the moderator could finish the next question, Frey raised his hand to use one of his two allotted rebuttals. As he clicked on his microphone, a loud chorus of boos swept through the auditorium.
“Let’s maintain decorum, please,” Dr. Williams said. Hampton waved his hand in disapproval at the outburst.
“New coach often means new ideas,” Frey responded once the noise subsided. “But if those ideas are the same solutions already happening, then we need to talk about common sense and reality. I had the guts to tell people what they don’t want to hear.”
Frey argued that many of his opponents’ proposals mirrored those already in place under his administration. He expressed support for a stronger separation ordinance to limit police cooperation with ICE and agreed with Davis on hiring more staff for the city’s homeless response team.
“We got a bunch of plans,” Davis said. “Work the plan.”
After the forum, attendees spilled into the Paradise Community Hall next door. One person asked aloud, “Where’s Jacob?” Short, defending Frey, reminded them that the mayor has a 10-month-old child at home.
Earlier in the evening, Fateh also referenced fatherhood. “Also a father for the first time, my son is about nine weeks now,” he said. “The mayor and I timed it on purpose,” he joked.
Fateh struggled to reach his campaign table, where manager Arianna Feldman waited, as a line of voters stopped him with questions between the Davis and Hampton booths. That same day, the Star Tribune reported concerns from transparency advocates and a University of Minnesota media ethics professor regarding potential public records violations by Frey’s office.
The political action committee “Minneapolis for the Many” had requested text messages and call logs between Frey and law enforcement about two events: the shooting of Davis Moturi, a Black man who had filed 19 complaints about a neighbor before being injured, and a federal raid on a Lake Street restaurant.
Frey’s office responded that no such records existed, raising alarm among open government advocates.
“Transparency is the foundation of our government,” Fateh said. “We have to be open and transparent. I can’t comment on that specific matter because I haven’t read it.”
“This again highlights the transparency issue… not getting it from this mayor,” Davis added. “Is the mayor telling us the truth? Is he leveling with us after the Lake and Bloomington thing?”
When contacted by the Star Tribune, Frey spokesperson Ally Peters said the mayor routinely deletes texts he considers transitory, noting that his phone has limited storage space. Davis criticized that reasoning.
“When I have too many photos on my phone, I offload them to my computer to make room,” he said. “I don’t delete everything. Even photos I could delete, I just move them elsewhere. This is why transparency and trust are critical, especially as we face a federal government determined to attack us.”
Hampton also weighed in on the issue. “I do not know whether he broke any laws or rules,” he said, “but my flat-out answer is we should strictly follow policies and laws in Minneapolis and Minnesota on maintaining and keeping data related to official city work.”
The 2025 Minneapolis mayoral election is set for November 4 with voters selecting the city’s next leader via ranked-choice voting.
For more information, visit www.vote.minneapolismn.gov.
Clint Combs welcomes reader responses at combs0284@gmail.com.
Editor’s Note:
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that David Moturi had been killed. This information was not verified and was included in error. Mr. Moturi is alive. We regret the mistake and any harm it may have caused.