The Cities Blog

Minneapolis mayoral candidates choose their words

The 35 candidates running for mayor of Minneapolis each got to describe their political philosophy in three words or less. That label will appear below their name on the ballot.

Many simply write the name of a party, but some are more creative.

Bill Kahn chose an enigmatic and somewhat chilling moniker, "Last Minneapolis Mayor," suggesting he plans to either rule in perpetuity, disband the city or perhaps bring about the end times.

UPDATE: Kahn wrote to inform me that he chose those words because he wants to do away with the position of mayor in favor of an appointed city manager. He would also change the way the City Council is elected. Those proposals would require an amendment to the city charter. You can read more about them on his website.

Now updated with the entire field, here's a graphical representation of the candidates' political ideologies. The bigger the word, the more candidates used it.

Mayoral Word Cloud full
MPR infographic created with wordle.net.

Can anyone guess which Minneapolis political party is the most dominant?