Leading Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh, a two-term state senator of Somali heritage was stripped of his Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL) endorsement after electronic voting irregularities were discovered from the July convention’s nominating process. The DFL declined to endorse a new candidate, stating instead that it was instead generically focusing on getting the right candidate elected.
Fateh has been dubbed Minneapolis’s version of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, another self-described socialist with immigrant ties and a far-left vision of governance that many Americans feel has reached a tipping point. Among other platform positions, Fateh campaigned on a massively increased minimum wage, introducing a city-level income tax, and a ban on new charter schools.
The revocation of the controversial candidate comes in light of new revelations that irregularities occurred with the electronic recording system, which erroneously removed a Democrat mayoral candidate in the first round of voting and led to a sudden end in voting. Had the candidate, a man by the name of DeWayne Davis, not been removed, it is being surmised that competing camps, most notably that of incumbent mayor Jacob Frey, might have rallied the delegates.
“Most notably, the first ballot of voting, which was done electronically, took hours to tally and ultimately was missing votes from nearly 200 delegates. The slow tally was reportedly the result of the person in charge suffering a migraine,” the online journal Sahan Journal reported, describing the chaos that ensued after the confusion set in. “A second ballot vote never happened, and Omar received the endorsement at the end of the night by a show of hands after most delegates for other candidates had left for the night.”
DFL Party Chairman Richard Carlbom released an August 21st statement explaining the withdrawal of the party’s support of Fateh in a move that has sent shockwaves through the party in both the city and state. “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. As a result, the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee has vacated the mayoral endorsement,’ Carlbom said.
He continued: “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. With an eye towards the 2026 midterms, the Minnesota DFL will broaden our coalition to elect leaders who will build an affordable economy that works for everyone.”
Accusations are also flying of cheating having taken place, escalating the comment that featured more neutral language in the DFL’s original statement. Dustin Grage, a prominent voice within Minnesota politics on the social media platform X, said what occurred was ‘brazen cheating.” He quoted a staffer in the Frey camp as saying, ““The CBRC findings are more damning than our campaign could have possibly imagined. This wasn’t an error. This was brazen cheating.” Grage also reported that Fateh’s own brother had previously lied to a grand jury about vote tampering.
Statements from each of the leading campaigns of Frey and Fateh weighed in on the change. “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. 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,’ a statement from the Frey campaign said.
Meanwhile, representatives from Fateh’s campaign called the move a ‘disenfranchisement’ of the delegates who stayed and supported him. “Our campaign sees this for what it is: disenfranchisement of thousands of Minneapolis caucus-goers and the delegates who represented all of us on convention day The establishment is threatened by our message. They are scared of a politics that really stands up to corporate interests and with our working class neighbors,” Fateh’s co-campaign manager Graham Faulkner said in the wake of the decision.
Featured image: Betty Ayoub/VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons