MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has won re-election to a second term, after elections officials completed tabulations in ranked-choice voting on Wednesday.
Frey led the field after the first-choice votes were counted on election night, but did not secure the 50% plus one majority needed to be declared the winner in round one.
According to the tabulations on the city's website, Frey had 70,669 total votes in the final round, a 49.1% percentage, compared to closest challenger Kate Knuth, who received 55,007 total final round votes, a percentage of 38.2%.
According to Minneapolis Elections and Voter Services, 145,046 ballots were cast in the city, which includes both absentee/early voting and election day voting. There were 254,380 people registered to vote, making total turnout for the election 53.94%.
Minneapolis voters did send a clear message to reject Question 2 on the ballot, voting to keep the Minneapolis Police Department intact. As of Wednesday morning, only 43% of voters, or 62,813, favored a Public Safety Department in Minneapolis, but the majority 56%, or 80,506, voted against.
The safety ballot question, which would have replaced the MPD with a new Department of Public Safety, has not only been a contentious topic locally but it's also garnered plenty of national attention.
With 100% of the precincts reporting, Minneapolis voted yes on Question 3 to allow the Minneapolis City Council the ability to regulate rent on private residential properties. Question 1 also passed, which means a "strong mayor system" will be adopted and more power will be shifted to the mayor.
Andrew Johnson, Lisa Goodman, Andrea Jenkins and Linea Palmisano all have retained their seats on the city council. LaTrisha Vetaw upset Phillipe Cunningham in Ward 4, Emily Koski ousted Jeremy Schroeder in Ward 11, Six wards had yet to be decided as of Tuesday night.
Following Wednesday's tabulations, longtime council member Cam Gordon was narrowly defeated in Ward 2, with challenger Robin Wonsley Worlobah declared the winner. Gordon was eliminated in the final round tabulations, with Wonsley Worlobah defeating Yusra Arab by just 19 votes.
Elliot Payne beat out Kevin Reich in Ward 1 and Michael Rainville defeated incumbent Steve Flecther in Ward 3.
Jeremiah Ellison narrowly defeated Kristel Porter to retain his seat in Ward 5 and Jalam Osman kept his seat in Ward 6. Jason Chaven won in Ward 9 after Alondra Cano didn't seek re-election and Aisha Chughtai is the new councilmember out of Ward 10 after Lisa Bender, who was also the council's president, didn't seek re-election.
In the race for Parks and Rec Board members, Billy Menz has been declared the unofficial winner in District 1.
Get all the latest results on the KARE 11 Elections page.