DFL strips Omar Fateh's endorsement for Minneapolis mayor

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota DFL announced Thursday it will revoke Sen. Omar Fateh's endorsement for Minneapolis mayor.

Fateh is set to face off with incumbent mayor Jacob Frey this November. 

In a statement, Frey says he is glad that an "inaccurate and obviously flawed process was set aside", after hearing about findings from the Minnesota DFL's Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee (CRBC). Fateh's campaign says "the establishment is threatened by our message," after the decision. 

Fateh made headlines after the endorsement in July for being a democratic socialist. 

Omar Fateh's DFL endorsement revoked

What we know:

The Minnesota DFL will be revoking Fateh's endorsement for Minneapolis mayor.

The decision comes after incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey challenged the Minneapolis DFL's endorsement multiple times after a chaotic DFL convention that led to Fateh's endorsement. 

Dig deeper:

DFL Party Chairman Richard Carlborn says the decision to remove the mayoral endorsement comes after a review of the challenges found "substantial failures" in the DFL convention's voting process, and "acknowledgment that a mayoral candidate was errantly eliminated from contention."

The CRBC findings after the review show that the voting system for endorsement produced a very inaccurate count of the first, undercounted by 176 votes. 

The findings also state that the entire Ward 5 credentials books were lost by the Minneapolis DFL, causing delegates to have to re-establish delegate status. Additionally, the master check-in sheet at registration was not properly secured.

The Minneapolis DFL is now barred by the CBRC from conducting another 2025 mayoral endorsing convention, or even endorsing a candidate on their own. 

Also, the Minneapolis DFL has been placed on two years' probation by the CBRC under the supervision of the DFL State Executive Committee. After two years, they have to submit a best practices plan. 

What they're saying:

Both the Fateh and Frey campaigns are reacting to the news:

Omar Fateh's campaign

Fateh's campaign sent the following statement regarding the decision: 

"Over a month after delegates convened and overwhelmingly voted to endorse Sen. Fateh for Minneapolis Mayor, 28 mostly out-state, establishment Democrats, including many Frey donors and supporters, met privately and voted to overturn the will of Minneapolis residents. 

"Our campaign sees this for what it is: disenfranchisement of thousands of Minneapolis caucus-goers and the delegates who represented all of us on convention day. The establishment is threatened by our message. They are scared of a politics that really stands up to corporate interests and with our working class neighbors. 

"Let me be clear, we’re still in this fight. And we’re going to win. This will not slow us in reaching every voter, standing with our neighbors to fight back against Trump, and continuing to grow our coalition to win on November 4. 

"Frey’s PACs and loyalists know that us winning isn’t that much of a long shot. That is why they will try every trick in the book to try to silence and stop us. But we know that they will not succeed in halting our movement as long as we stand together. That’s why we're running to build an affordable city, accountable to us."

Jacob Frey's campaign

"I am proud to be a member of a party that believes in correcting our mistakes, and I am glad that this inaccurate and obviously flawed process was set aside," said Frey. "I look forward to having a full and honest debate with Senator Fateh about our city's future, with the outcome now resting squarely where it should — with all the people of Minneapolis."

DFL statement

Here is the full statement from the DFL regarding the decision: 

"After a thoughtful and transparent review of the challenges, the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee found substantial failures in the Minneapolis Convention’s voting process on July 19th, including an acknowledgment that a mayoral candidate was errantly eliminated from contention. As a result, the Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee has vacated the mayoral endorsement.

"Now it’s time to turn our focus to unity and our common goal: electing DFL leaders focused on making life more affordable for Minnesotans and holding Republicans accountable for the chaos and confusion they’ve unleashed on Minnesotans."With an eye towards the 2026 midterms, the Minnesota DFL will broaden our coalition to elect leaders who will build an affordable economy that works for everyone." 

Frey challenged Fateh's endorsement

The backstory:

Fateh was endorsed by the DFL on July 19 after a convention hosted in Minneapolis. 

After the endorsement, Frey's campaign filed a challenge to the results with the DFL party. 

Frey's campaign said there was an extraordinarily high number of missing or uncounted votes. They say the voting system is "highly flawed" and "untested."

The campaign said 578 votes were counted in the mayoral ballot, despite more than 1,000 delegates and alternates being checked in at the time of the first ballot.

Frey Campaign Manager Sam Schulenberg said at the time the challenge was issued: "Everyone who endured this multi-hour convention process deserved to have their voices heard. DFL leaders, delegates, and voters across our city and party are filing challenges to ensure that the inaccurate balloting of the convention does not create a permanent rift in our party. In an overwhelmingly Democratic city like Minneapolis, there is no reason to push through a DFL endorsement using a highly flawed process that clearly missed or did not count a large percentage of the votes cast."