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Minneapolis News
MPR News Staff
Updated:

Frey formally launches bid for third term as Minneapolis mayor

A man speaks at a podium
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey answers questions from the press during a press conference at the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis after the Minneapolis City Council agreed to the terms of a federal consent decree on Jan. 6.
Ben Hovland | MPR News

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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday he’ll seek a third — and final — term as mayor and that he wants to continue his administration’s work overhauling the police department and building more affordable housing.

In a wide ranging interview Wednesday with MPR News, Frey also affirmed that Minneapolis police will not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on any deportations. City workers don’t ask if people are in the country without legal permission and so don’t have data to hand to the Trump administration, he said.

“When you're faced with moral questions like that, you got to do the right thing. But again, what we have is a separation ordinance. It is legal, it is legit. We're prepared to defend it,” Frey told Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer.

In line with what Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara told MPR News this week, Frey said the city will uphold its federal consent decree, which is currently in the hands of a judge awaiting a court date.

“If they refuse to put it through the court of law, we're doing it anyway,” Frey said of the proposed changes to policing. “We worked extensively with the Department of Justice of the former administration to get an extensive consent decree set up to have an agreement that is formalized, that is a really excellent roadmap for change and reform. And we're going to do it regardless.”

Frey told MPR News that if he’s reelected, his third term as mayor would be his last.

At least five people have announced they plan to challenge Frey this year: Rev. DeWayne Davis; state Sen. Omar Fateh; Jazz Hampton; Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski; and Brenda Short.

Frey, who has at times been at odds with a majority of City Council members whose politics lean farther left than his, said his style favors pragmatism over ideology. Since he was first elected in 2017, Frey has issued more vetoes than both of his previous predecessors. 

With a new Trump administration in power, he said the best approach is not to answer extremism with extreme policies from the left.

“The opposite of extremism is good, thoughtful government," Frey said. “It's on all of us to stay steady right now and cool under pressure, because I think what he's counting on right now is that we're all going to get chaotic along with him, and we can't go down that road.”