2013 Minneapolis mayoral election

Minneapolis' 2009 elections were the first in the city's history to implement a system of ranked choice voting (RCV), whereby voters ranked up to their first three choices for an office instead of voting for just one. Turnout that year was, however, the city's lowest in decades with under 46,000 ballots being cast. A 2010 report prepared for the Minneapolis Elections Department by David Schultz and Kristi Rendahl of Hamline University determined that it was unclear whether the RCV system had met its stated goals of "increasing voter turnout, encouraging more candidates to run, [and] promoting more support for third party candidates." On December 27, 2012, Rybak, who had been in office since 2001, announced that he would not seek a fourth term as mayor. ==Candidates==

The official filing period with the City of Minneapolis for mayoral candidacy began on July 30 and lasted for two weeks, until August 13. In March 2013, City Council member Cam Gordon proposed raising the fee to run for mayor to $500, a move intended to "discourag[e] frivolous candidates" according to the Star Tribune. However, the fee remained at $20 for the 2013 filing period. there was a space on the affidavits of candidacy for candidates to declare their "Political Party or Principle". Hamline University's Schultz commented that the crowded race would make it difficult for candidates to get name recognition, "[e]specially for some of those candidates who fall further down on the list because they probably don't have a lot of money, and they probably aren't going to get invited to debates." An article in MinnPost suggested that the majority of candidates' campaigns would not have a lot of funding with which to work, nor would they be well organized. Gregg A. Iverson was the first of six candidates to submit their affidavits of candidacy on July 30, the first day of filing. Meanwhile, three candidates waited until August 13, the final day of the filing period, to submit their affidavits, including Cyd Gorman who was the last to file. No candidates who registered with the Elections Department took advantage of the ability to withdraw their candidacies. • Merrill Anderson, Jobs & Justice • Mark Andrew, DFL • Neal Baxter, Independent • Troy Benjegerdes, Local Energy/Food • Alicia K. Bennett, DFL • Edmund Bernard Bruyere, Legacy-Next Generation • Bob "Again" Carney Jr., Demand Transit Revolution • Jackie Cherryhomes, DFL • Dan Cohen, Jobs Downtown Casino • Bob Fine, DFL • Mike Gould, DFL • Kurtis W. Hanna, Minnesota Pirate Party • John Leslie Hartwig, Independent • Betsy Hodges, DFL • Bill Kahn, Last Minneapolis Mayor • Jaymie Kelly, Stop Foreclosures Now • Tony Lane, Socialist Workers Party • Doug Mann, Green Party of Minnesota • Abdul M. Rahaman "The Rock", We the people... • Joshua Rea, End Homelessness Now • Don Samuels, DFL • Captain Jack Sparrow, Count All Rankings • James "Jimmy" L. Stroud Jr., The people's choice • Jeffrey Alan Wagner, DFL • John Charles Wilson, Lauraist Communist • Cam Winton, independent responsible inclusive • Christopher Robin Zimmerman, Libertarian Political party endorsements Gallery Merrill Anderson 2013.jpg|Merrill Anderson Mark Andrew, 2013 DFL convention cropped.jpg|Mark Andrew Troy Benjegerdes Photo.jpg|Troy Benjegerdes Jackie Cherryhomes, 2013 DFL convention.jpg|Jackie Cherryhomes Dan Cohen Mayor.png|Dan Cohen Bob Fine mayoral forum October 2013.jpg|Bob Fine Kurtis W. Hanna 2012.png | Kurtis W. Hanna Betsy Hodges, 2013 DFL convention.jpg|Betsy Hodges Gregg A Iverson 2013.jpg|Gregg A. Iverson BillKahnLastMplsMayor.jpg|Bill Kahn Don Samuels, 2013 DFL convention.jpg|Don Samuels OleSavior.jpg| Ole Savior Captain Jack Sparrow, Minneapolis 2013.jpg | Captain Jack Sparrow John.wilson.photo.jpg|John Charles Wilson Cam Winton portrait 2012.jpg|Cam Winton Stephanie Woodruff October 2013.jpg|Stephanie Woodruff Christopher Robin Zimmerman from CRZ 226 YouTube.png|Christopher Robin Zimmerman • Not pictured: Mark V. Anderson, Neal Baxter, Alicia K. Bennett, Edmund Bernard Bruyere, Bob Carney Jr., Christopher Clark, James Everett, Cyd Gorman, Mike Gould, John Leslie Hartwig, Jaymie Kelly, Tony Lane, Doug Mann, Abdun M. Rahaman, Joshua Rea, James L. Stroud Jr., Jeffrey Alan Wagner, Rahn V. Workcuff Withdrawn • On June 19, DFL City Council member Gary Schiff announced an end to his campaign and backed Hodges. Declined • John Erwin, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Commissioner • Tom Hoch, President and CEO of the Hennepin Theatre Trust ==Campaigns==

Announcements Almost a month before Rybak announced that he intended to leave office, DFL City Council member Betsy Hodges of Minneapolis' thirteenth ward declared that she would run for mayor. Her plans, however, were contingent upon whether Rybak would elect to run for a fourth time. Cherryhomes last held office in 2001, but remained involved at the Minneapolis City Hall as a lobbyist. Like Hodges, she only intended to run if Rybak opted not to Unlike Hodges and Cherryhomes, Schiff stated that whether he would run or not would probably not be contingent upon what Rybak decided to do. Fifth ward City Council member Don Samuels, another DFLer, was considering running for the office shortly after Rybak announced that he wouldn't run again. Samuels had served on the City Council for a decade at that time and had most recently run but dropped out of a race for Hennepin County Commissioner. Mark Andrew, formerly a Hennepin County Commissioner and the chair of the DFL from 1995 until 1997, expressed in early January that he was "very interested" in potentially vying for the position of mayor. Since leaving public office, Andrew had begun GreenMark, an environmental marketing firm. He officially declared his candidacy on February 7, 2013, acknowledging his late entrance into the race relative to some of his opponents. Winton, a Republican, stated that he did not intend to seek the DFL endorsement, making him the only candidate declared at the time to do so. Dan Cohen, a Republican former City Council member, said on May 28 that he would run for mayor if the DFL failed to agree on an endorsement. Cohen, who sits on Minneapolis' Charter and Planning Commissions, was a Council member in the 1960s He last ran for mayor in 1969, losing to Charles Stenvig. Cohen formally declared his candidacy on June 18. Moderated by professor of political science Larry Jacobs, as well as some of his students, the debate included Andrew, Hodges, Schiff, Cherryhomes, and Samuels, noted by Jacobs as being the "leading DFL candidates". All candidates then declared with the exception of Winton (Andrew, Cherryhomes, Hodges, Samuels, Schiff, and Thomas) sought the nomination and were present at the event. During the first round of voting, Jim Thomas, Cheryhomes, and Samuels were eliminated as each failed to secure the ten percent of the vote required to move on to the second round. Schiff was eliminated after the second ballot, leaving Andrew and Hodges. Andrew came first in every round of voting but never reached the 60 percent threshold. Hodges invited her delegates outside of the Convention Center to eat pizza. Their absence meant that a quorum was not present at the convention and so, on the fifth ballot, the convention ended with no endorsement. ==General election==

Polling Results None of the candidates passed the threshold to be elected in the first round, necessitating several rounds of vote transfers. Betsy Hodges was elected in the 33rd round. ==See also==