Voters in Hennepin County chose Mary Moriarty as their next county attorney by a wide margin Tuesday night, handing her a nearly 16 percentage point victory over opponent Martha Holton Dimick.
The race was an early call in a night of slow results around the state. Moriarty declared victory in a speech around 9:40 p.m., entering her election night watch party at a downtown Minneapolis restaurant to dozens of supporters chanting her name.
In her victory speech, Moriarty said that in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder, the focus needs to be on examining how the legal system has failed many. She said that while some tried to fearmonger over rising crime, voters chose change.
“You, the voters, have spoken — rejecting the failed policies of the past and demanding better of our legal system,” she said. “This is our time to forge a new path forward: one that keeps our communities safe while ending the cycles of mass incarceration that have deeply harmed communities of color and broken up too many families.”
Hennepin county attorney
In her victory speech, Moriarty said she will effectively prosecute violent crime while also targeting the root causes of that violence. She said she plans to work with schools, families and community members on preventing violence and reducing racial disparities in the county’s legal system.
“Together we will bring trauma-informed, data-driven and research-based strategies to our work which will help us address and reduce the racial disparities here that are among the worst in our nation,” she said.
The contest between Moriarty and Dimick for the seat left open by the retirement of longtime prosecutor Mike Freeman has taken on a larger focus than in previous years. In addition to the seat being open for the first time in many years, increased crime, coinciding with louder calls for police accountability and reform in the two years since George Floyd’s murder by an ex-officer and other high-profile police killings have given the race more attention among voters.
Moriarty, many progressive voters’ chosen candidate, was the county’s chief public defender for six years and worked in the office for 31 years. The victor in August’s primary by more than twice the votes of the runner-up, she won the support of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, among others.
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Peyton Sitz[/image_credit][image_caption]Martha Holton Dimick speaking to attendees of her Election Night gathering.[/image_caption]
The race was yet another showdown between the progressive and centrist wings of the metro’s Democratic voter base, which showed a similar divide earlier this year during the 5th District Congressional primary race between Rep. Ilhan Omar and Don Samuels, and in the 2021 Minneapolis election in both the mayoral race and a ballot initiative that would have replaced the police department.
Moriarty had raised more than $238,000 and has just over $48,000 on hand. Though Dimick outraised Moriarty by more than $70,000 – with more than $312,000 and having nearly $86,000 cash on hand – Moriarty saw much more outside spending on her behalf by outside groups trying to influence voters.
Those groups, which included national group ColorOfChangePAC and the PAC branch of ISAIAH, poured more than $136,000 in independent expenditures, or unlimited funds spent by groups seeking to influence the election that are not allowed to coordinate with the campaign, into the race, according to the most recent campaign finance filings, which cover the race through late October.
With all 397 Hennepin County precincts reporting, Moriarty had a considerable lead over Dimick, with 57.6% of votes to Dimick’s 41.8%
Hennepin County sheriff
Hennepin County has elected the first Black sheriff in its history, with Dawanna Witt trouncing Joseph Banks on Tuesday, with 64% of votes as of publication, compared to 35.4% for Banks, for the county’s top cop job.
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Bill Kelley[/image_credit][image_caption]Hennepin County has elected the first Black sheriff in its history, with Dawanna Witt trouncing Joseph Banks.[/image_caption]
Witt had outpaced Banks in donations by more than $50,000, raising more than $66,000 with a little more than $16,000 cash on hand, according to fundraising reports released ahead of the election. Banks – who has about $430 on hand – had raised more than $12,000, much of which came from donations he made to his own campaign.
We will look back on this election as the turning point for Hennepin County – and especially for Minneapolis – into a rapid decline of quality of daily life. Moriarty is cut from the same ideological cloth as radical prosecutors in Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. She has vowed to put prosecuting police as her top priority and to impose racial quotas on whom she chooses to prosecute. By next spring criminals will know that there are few if any consequences for their actions – every cop in Hennepin County will abandon pro-active policing.
This race did NOT receive the media attention it warranted, and lots of voters blindly voted for the DFL endorsed candidate not knowing who she really is and what she stands for. There is a reason why 30 Mayors in Hennepin County – Including the Minneapolis Mayor – endorsed the other candidate; the same reason why a DFL-endorsed candidate for the state legislature personally told me that she fears Moriarty will over time hurt all Democratic politicians. The Moriarty election will not end well for residents of Hennepin County, the criminal element excepted.
Well, she was removed from her last job and maybe that will happen again. I agree, she does not work well with others and Minneapolis, more cops will probably resign as will some of the attorneys. We needed someone like Dimick or someone who was an improvement on Freeman, but not Moriarity.
She got a $300,000 settlement because she was removed unfairly.
Please review your comment in a year.
How refreshing to see the positive, substantive candidate win easily.