Minneapolis City Council (2003–2014) Samuels was elected to represent Ward 3 on the
Minneapolis City Council in a special election in 2003, completing the final three years of Joe Biernat's term. Samuels was sworn in on February 14, 2003, though a 2005 redistricting led to Samuels' home becoming part of the city's Ward 5. Samuels' tenure on the Council centered on issues of public health and safety. He sponsored Minneapolis' 2004 indoor smoking ban, whose provisions would later be adopted by the broader 2007 Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act. Samuels also initiated the Minneapolis "
Ban the Box" policy, which removed the checkbox requiring applicants to indicate their felony status from most municipal job applications. To reduce hiring bias, the ordinance mandated that whether an individual had committed a felony be considered only after the initial job selection. In 2007, Samuels drew criticism from journalist
Nick Coleman and others for stating "I've said burn
North High School down." Samuels made the comments in reference to low graduation rates for African Americans at the school. He defended the statement as one meant to draw attention to systemic under-education of Black youth, which he said "needs to be fixed, but before it can be fixed, you have to say it's bad." He later apologized for his words. Samuels supported public financing for
U.S. Bank Stadium, the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, to replace the
Metrodome. He briefly campaigned for Hennepin County Commissioner in 2012. In 2013, Samuels announced a run for Mayor of Minneapolis and did not run for re-election to the City Council. Though he outperformed all other candidates in North Minneapolis, he ultimately lost the race to
Betsy Hodges. Several Democratic candidates, including Samuels, were the target of Republican donations during the cycle. Samuels' term ended January 6, 2014, when his successor Blong Yang was sworn into office.
Post-Council political career Samuels was elected to serve on the Minneapolis Public Schools school board in 2014 as an at-large representative. He served for one term, from January 13, 2015, until January 15, 2019. During his campaign, Samuels called the police on a
Get Out the Vote event by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. At the event, hot dogs were given away and Samuels called the police because he thought food was being sold illegally. Police questioned event organizers to see if they were trying to elicit votes and Samuels later said that he was a supporter of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. In 2020, Samuels was among several Minneapolis residents who sued the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor
Jacob Frey, alleging they did not hire enough police officers as required by city charter. In 2021, Samuels was active in the successful campaign to defeat a charter amendment that would have eliminated the Minneapolis Police Department. and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey. Samuels' campaign focused on crime prevention, Omar's support for the
police abolition movement, and the unsuccessful call to replace the Minneapolis Police Department through a charter amendment ballot initiative. Samuels was defeated by Omar in the primary on
August 9, 2022, by 2.1% and fewer than 2,500 votes. By the end of the campaign, Samuels had spent around $1.4 million. His campaign was managed by
Joe Radinovich, who also managed his 2022 campaign. Samuels and Omar differentiated themselves on public safety, governing style, support for Joe Biden, antisemitism, and the
Gaza war, though both candidates agreed on the need for a ceasefire in the latter. Samuels supports limiting restrictive zoning policies that only allow single-family homes and proposes federal grants to help create neighborhood corner stores. While on a podcast run by former Republican Party staff members, Samuels criticized Omar for not being connected enough to her constituents by saying "You're not cute enough, you don’t dress well enough, nothing about you is attractive enough to overcome that deficit." Omar criticized the comments as sexist. Samuels denies criticizing her appearance and instead he was instead criticizing her constituent services and that "you" referred to all politicians and not just Omar. He remains in the race for the
August DFL primary election. In 2023-2024 election cycle, Samuels raised $1,429,169. On June 17, 2024,
International Union of Operating Engineers and the
United Steelworkers endorsed Samuels over Omar in the 2024 Congressional race. He lost on August 13, 2024 with 43.9% or 51,581 votes.
Ilhan Omar was the nominee again. ==Personal life==