Election Tuesday: A check-in from the Minneapolis polls

[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: Voting is underway across Minnesota in various local races for mayor, city council, school board, and other positions. Off-year local elections tend to see much lower turnout than presidential and statewide races, but their results have a big impact on people's lives. Polls close at 8:00 tonight. Of course, we'll have coverage of the results in a few key races. In the meantime, reporter Kyra Miles is at the polls in Ward 12 in Minneapolis, and she's on the line to talk about what she's seeing. Kyra, thank you for joining us.

KYRA MILES: Hi. Thank you, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Where exactly are you? What are you seeing?

KYRA MILES: Yeah, I'm in Ward 12 at Hiawatha Collegiate High School. That's voting for precinct 12-1. It's been a pretty steady trickle of people coming in and out. There's no lines necessarily. But the last ballot count that I saw was 490. It's probably gone up a little bit in the minutes that I've gone up. So, yeah, it's a pretty steady trickle, but not super busy.

CATHY WURZER: So all 13 Minneapolis City Council seats are up for election this year. Talk a little bit about what that might mean in terms of the council makeup and maybe some of the candidates.

KYRA MILES: Right, the council currently ranges from liberal Democrats to left leaning progressives, including members supported by the Democratic socialists of America. I should mention that Mayor Jacob Frey is a moderate Democrat. The progressive wing of the council has clashed with the mayor and the more moderate members on all sorts of issues like rent control, protections for rideshare drivers, replacing the third precinct building.

So today's winners in this election could have implications for both which faction controls city government and whether some of those issues I just mentioned can pass or withstand a mayoral veto. And those are definitely issues that voters that I talked to are looking at.

CATHY WURZER: There are a couple races I know the experts are looking at. Specifically, I talked to Jon Collins yesterday about Ward 8. But remind us about that race and who's on the ballot.

KYRA MILES: Yeah, so Ward 8 is a match-up between City Council President Andrea Jenkins and challenger Soren Stevenson. Jenkins is regarded as the first Black trans woman to be elected to public office in the US, and newcomer Soren Steven is an affordable housing advocate and activist.

CATHY WURZER: Now, there's a pretty interesting race in Ward 12 that we should talk about.

KYRA MILES: Yeah, so there's three candidates on the ballot in Ward 12. They're vying for that Ward 12 seat left open by the departure of council member Andrew Johnson, who represented the ward located in this eastern corner of south Minneapolis since 2014. So the winner here, just like in Ward 8, could change the balance of the council.

CATHY WURZER: I'm betting you've probably talked to some voters. What are they saying?

KYRA MILES: Yeah, so I was at Ward 8, Ward 7, Ward 12 today. But in Ward 8, I asked voters what brought them out to vote and who they voted for. So here's Omer Goodovich, who is from Ward 8.

OMER GOODOVICH: I think it's most important to vote locally. Yeah.

KYRA MILES: What are the issues that are most important to you voting locally?

OMER GOODOVICH: Sort of the same issues as voting state or federal, mostly climate change action, social justice, things like that.

KYRA MILES: And how does that influence how you vote?

OMER GOODOVICH: Well, I try to educate myself and find candidates that align with my own values. Yeah, we did get a lot of information at the house, so you know, I didn't have to work too hard to familiarize myself.

KYRA MILES: And if you don't mind, would you mind sharing which council candidate you voted for and why?

OMER GOODOVICH: Oh, sure. I ranked Andrea Jenkins number one, mostly because the information that she provided aligned with what I wanted. So she speaks about reforms that I agree with. She speaks about climate change action. And that sounded all good to me.

KYRA MILES: But the election is also giving some voters pause. I also talked to Jessica Sinsky in the same ward.

JESSICA SINSKY: City elections are very important. We definitely need some change in our community. And it's an important election this session. Yeah.

KYRA MILES: What are the most important issues for you?

JESSICA SINSKY: So many. [LAUGHS] Unhoused neighbors, finding help, expanding help for people that need it. Crime is not great. Littering and trash is another thing that just is like near and dear to me. So just keeping a clean, safe community for everybody, not just some people.

KYRA MILES: How does that influence how you vote?

JESSICA SINSKY: Based on track record, I suppose, of some and promises made by others, I think we might need a change in our council. So hopefully we can get some movement on those issues.

KYRA MILES: And if you'd like to, would you mind sharing which council candidate you voted for and why?

JESSICA SINSKY: I voted for Soren. Just, I think he might bring a new perspective. His platform is what I believe in a little bit more strongly than some of the others. And I think I voted for Andrea Jenkins in the last few, but I just don't feel like she's done what she's promised for everybody. So we'll see.

CATHY WURZER: So Kyra, where are you going after this?

KYRA MILES: Well, I think I will check out another precinct in Ward 12, but after that, I think I'll head back to the office.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Kyra, thank you so much.

KYRA MILES: Thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Kyra Miles is with MPR News.