Aswar Rahman
Age: 23
Bio: Rahman is a small business owner from a family of immigrant small business owners. Brought to Minneapolis from Bangladesh at age 6 by his mother, he went to Minneapolis Public Schools, graduated from the University of Minnesota, then began a career in film and tech.
Education: Graduated from the University of Minnesota at age 19.
Work experience: Founder of Cineapolis, a film and multimedia company; and Eloquent, a web development firm.
Political and public experience: Active member of the DFL (elected chair for Ward 7, Precinct 9), worked for Mayor RT Rybak (Youth Policy) and the Minneapolis Police Department (Juvenile Diversion/Crime Prevention)
Main issues:
- Investing away from downtown projects toward expanding preschool access and MCTC's low-income student enrollment program
- Poverty alleviation in Minneapolis through strategic long-term investments
- Stabilizing the property tax rate in Minneapolis after four years of extreme rise
- Police reform by strengthening civilian oversight and using mayoral authority
- Converting rooftop spaces in Minneapolis to solar gardens via private-public partnerships
Party: DFL
Why he is running:
"Because the values of the people of Minneapolis aren't being represented by the city's government. The mayor controls the police and the budget, and the two aspects of the city that have deteriorated significantly are the police and the budget."
What you might not know about him:
Aswar's sister recently got married. "She and her wonderful husband married at the Crescent Moon Banquet Hall in Minneapolis in traditional Bengali fashion — sarees, punjabis, music, and lots and lots of food."
Website: aswarrahman.com
Note: Responses were submitted directly by the candidates and may have been edited for clarity.
Candidate provided responses via email
