Minneapolis council member Emily Koski drops out of mayor's race

Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski has dropped out of the mayor’s race, according to a campaign update Monday morning.

Koski was among half a dozen challengers for the seat currently held by Mayor Jacob Frey, who is running for his third — and he says last — term.

In her announcement, Koski pointed to several different reasons for her exit, including balancing the rigors of actively serving on the council with fundraising, wanting more time to spend with her children and dealing with toxicity in local politics.

“Under the political climate, I can’t be my authentic self and be a candidate in this race the way it demands,” Koski wrote in her announcement. “I tried to balance it all—be a mom, build a great team, serve as a Council Member, raise a million dollars, show up for my kids, show up for every event, all while being a person driven by honesty and integrity.”

Koski said that balance was even harder to strike as a woman, facing additional layers of scrutiny and being expected to change to make others more comfortable.

“We carry the weight of families, jobs, others’ expectations—and then we’re told to do more. Throughout this campaign, I was told I wasn’t good enough. Not strong enough. I was told it was not my time or that I was not ready,” she continued. “If it wasn’t said outright, it was implied in a thousand different ways.”

Koski’s announcement circled back to a “toxicity in our city’s politics” that was part of why she initially announced her mayoral run. She said instead of spending time problem-solving with residents, she was having to “reject lies spread by anonymous donors and political action committees.”

Koski is the daughter of former Minneapolis Mayor Al Hofstede. She was first elected to the city council in 2021, where she represents Ward 11. That’s an area of the city that covers south central neighborhoods, including Diamond Lake and Tangletown.

At the start of her tenure, Koski was more aligned with the more moderate members of the city council, often siding with Frey. That was the case when she opposed a charter amendment that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a new department and public safety model.

However, in recent years, she has more frequently voted in step with the more progressive majority of the council — and ran with an appeal to voters to choose a new leader who would work with, instead of against, the council.

Although Koski did not throw her support against any one challenger to Frey, she encouraged residents to make a choice that would help Minneapolis “move in a new direction.”

“Look for the leaders that are bringing people together,” she wrote. “Listen to who’s offering real, workable solutions and is committed to doing the hard, often unglamorous work of making city government actually work.”

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