The Democratic Party in Minnesota endorsed the candidacy of Somali socialist Omar Fateh for mayor of Minneapolis

The Democratic Party branch in Minnesotaofficially endorsed far-left state Sen. Omar Fateh's candidacy for Minneapolis mayoron Saturday, in a move that represents a major shift in the party's support for the Minneapolis mayoralty./b>, in what represents a new episode in the radical drift that part of the party has taken since Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election victory over Kamala Harris. In his X account, Fateh thanked the endorsement received from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party after winning the nomination even over the city's current Democratic mayor, Jacob Frey.

"I am incredibly honored to be the DFL endorsed candidate for Minneapolis Mayor. This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It’s a mandate to build a city that works for all of us," the socialist politician wrote in his X account.

An extreme left-wing figure

Only 35 years old, Fateh is a Muslim socialist and the son of Somali immigrants who, in 2020, became the first Somali-American to be elected to the Minnesota Senate. Several political analysts considered at the time that Fateh's election represented the rise of a radical figure that clearly manifested the extremist drift that a faction of the Democratic Party in the state had been taking for years, increasingly diminishing the influence of the more moderate faction.

If elected mayor, Fateh promised tosubstantially increase the city's minimum wage, as well as to do everything possible to combat what he called "police violence" and even to expand the supply of affordable housing. In the face of this, Frey strongly criticized the DFL's decision to endorse the 35-year-old socialist in a campaign statement in which he argued that the party convention where the decision was made was completely irregular.

"This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention. Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November," said campaign spokesman Sam Schulenberg.