Folk, Frazier spar over experience and victims in Hennepin County attorney debate

State Rep. Cedrick Frazier and former acting U.S. Attorney Anders Folk traded laughs and then jabs over what qualifies someone to be a prosecutor at a Hennepin County attorney debate Oct. 13 at the Theater of Public Policy at Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater in Uptown Minneapolis.

Folk went after current County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who is not seeking reelection, calling her “a career public defender manifestly unqualified for this job.” He argued that his experience as a federal prosecutor better prepares him to manage the office after Operation Metro Surge and recent shootings in Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Uptown Minneapolis.

“Like Mary Moriarty, Cedrick Frazier never led a prosecution office in his life,” Folk said. “My opponent not only endorsed Mary Moriarty, but co-chaired her transition team and had supported her for the last four years.”

Frazier responded by pointing to two of Folk’s own mentors, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former County Attorney Mike Freeman. Both led the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

“He named Mary Moriarty all those times and things she haven’t done. His mentors Amy Klobuchar, Mike Freeman, they were also in the same boat. But you’re not going to sit there and say those things about them,” Frazier said. “That is hypocrisy.”

While Folk tied Frazier to Moriarty, Frazier sought to tie Folk to President Donald Trump.

“Will you be transparent that you applied to be the U.S. attorney under Donald Trump?” Frazier asked.

“Yes, I did, and I was passed on by Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Smith, and I was rejected roundly,” Folk said.

“But you still wanted it,” Frazier said.

“I didn’t get the job,” Folk said.

“Then you took the number two job,” Frazier replied.

From 2005 to 2010, Folk served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota, prosecuting al-Shabaab recruiters. He entered private practice in 2011, representing whistleblowers in a federal False Claims Act lawsuit against Coloplast Corp. and defending Chase Home Finance LLC in civil litigation. As a defense attorney, he represented Keith Michael Novak, a Minnesota National Guard soldier who pleaded guilty to stealing the identity data of about 400 Fort Bragg service members. Folk cited Novak’s post-combat trauma in arguing for leniency, and Novak received a two-year prison sentence.

Folk returned to the Justice Department in 2018 as first assistant U.S. attorney under Erica MacDonald, Trump’s appointee. In 2021, he served eight months as acting U.S. attorney, overseeing the prosecutions of the Dar al-Farooq mosque bomber and members of the Boogaloo Bois.

Frazier, who represents New Hope in the Minnesota House, has served as co-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee since 2025. He has worked on laws restoring voting rights to people with felony records once they leave prison, creating “red flag” gun protections and updating paid family and medical leave. He also pushed for funding for nonfatal shooting investigations and supported a $5.1 million package compensating three people who were wrongfully convicted, including Marvin Haynes.

When Folk was serving as acting U.S. attorney in 2021, some progressive advocates urged President Joe Biden not to nominate him for the permanent post. Mariama Eversley, a former data analyst for the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor, called him “a de facto Trump political appointee.”

The candidates also offered competing plans for crime victims.

Frazier proposed a Victim & Survivor Advisory Council that he said would give people most affected by crime a voice in shaping the office’s policies, alongside culturally responsive services such as relocation help, therapy and counseling.

“This idea came from the community, from me speaking to thousands of voters about how they feel this system works,” Frazier said. “So we’re going to make sure we have that victims and advisory board so we can get that feedback in almost real time, and then that the community will be able to see us implement practices and policies based on the feedback we’re giving.”

The county attorney’s office already has a victim services team that provides case-by-case legal and financial support. Victims can be repaid through restitution from the defendant or through state reparations administered by the county. The county’s Domestic Abuse Service Center, on the A-14 level of the Hennepin County Government Center, lets victims file orders for protection, meet with prosecutors and get advice from pro bono attorneys.

Folk’s plan centers on a crime victims’ bill of rights, part of what he calls his 100 Days of Action pledge.

“I think the victims’ bill of rights for me was an important value statement for the office to say to the public, ‘We are going to turn this approach around in this office, and we are going to ensure everything this office does is centered on its victims,'” Folk said.

According to his campaign, the plan would also expand and streamline the county’s certification of U and T visas, which are available to immigrants who are victims of certain crimes.

Folk said the pledge would break from Moriarty’s guidelines on prosecuting youth, which were designed to keep teenagers out of the adult criminal system.

Moriarty’s office offered juvenile plea deals to brothers Foday Kevin Kamara and John Kamara, teens charged in the 2022 killing of Zaria McKeever in Brooklyn Park, in exchange for testimony against the adult accused of orchestrating the break-in. In a rare move in 2023, Gov. Tim Walz removed Moriarty from the case and reassigned it to Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Folk said the handling of that case deepened community distrust in how the office treats victims.

“I heard straight from their mouths how they were treated, and it was wrong,” Folk said. “What the victims’ bill of rights means is that this office will lift up our victims and ensure that they know that they and their well-being are a priority to the office.”

Frazier said that distrust was decades in the making.

“Mr. Folk continues to talk about Mary Moriarty. She’s not in this race, she’s not here, she’s not running again,” Frazier said. “But this issue of communities not feeling like they’re being seen, appreciated and treated with human decency and respect has been around for a long time.”

Folk pointed to endorsements from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt.

“Folks like Mayor Frey, folks like Dawanna Witt, folks like former U.S. attorneys Todd Jones and Andy Luger have gotten behind me and my campaign,” Folk said.

Frazier has been endorsed by Ellison, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Travis County (Texas) District Attorney José Garza, five county commissioners, nine mayors, 15 city council members and 12 labor unions.

“Hats off to my opponent for his endorsements. He’s been a politician for a long time, and I think those endorsements reflect that and make plenty of sense,” Folk said.

Frazier pushed back, pointing to former state Rep. Ryan Winkler, who ran for county attorney in 2022.

“Ryan Winkler ran for this office last time. He did not have the support and endorsements that I have,” Frazier said, noting that Winkler had been a politician much longer than he has. “So this is not about that.”

Frazier is campaigning on reducing racial disparities, expanding diversion programs and increasing transparency. Folk has pledged what he calls a data-driven focus on swift prosecution of violent crime and stronger relationships with the Minneapolis Police Department.

Minnesota’s general election is Nov. 3. Hennepin County voters can return ballots in person at Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services, 980 E. Hennepin Ave., or at the Hennepin County Elections Center on the skyway level of the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 S. Sixth St.

Clint Combs is a freelance journalist and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. He welcomes reader responses at combs0284@gmail.com.