Mpls. City Council President Bender says she won't seek reelection
Updated: 12:10 p.m.
A key figure in the policy debates roiling the city of Minneapolis said Sunday that she’s leaving City Hall next year.
City Council President Lisa Bender announced in an email to supporters she won’t seek reelection to a third term in 2021.
Since 2013, Bender has represented the city’s 10th Ward, which includes the Uptown-area neighborhoods of Lowry Hill, East Harriet and Whittier.
She has led the City Council since 2018, during some of the city’s most difficult and controversial months. She was among those who pledged to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the death of George Floyd, although a council referendum proposal failed to get on this fall’s ballot.
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Bender said Monday that her decision not to run for reelection has nothing to do with a backlash to her position on dismantling the Police Department. She said that she'd already made her decision to not run before the backlash began, and that she stands by the sentiment.
"The commitment that we made around public safety is a value statement that I stand behind 100 percent,” Bender said. “We need to transform our system of public safety in Minneapolis so that everyone is safe."
She added that she is not going to run for mayor and that she wants to spend more time with her family.
Bender has been a controversial leader in the city; recently sparring with activists and residents over policing and housing density. She highlighted her accomplishments in her announcement Sunday, including a $15 an hour minimum wage and a comprehensive zoning makeover, as well as a plan to reopen Nicollet Avenue.