[image_credit]LaTrisha Vetaw for Ward 4[/image_credit][image_caption]LaTrisha Vetaw[/image_caption]
The second day of tabulation saw three more incumbents defeated: Cam Gordon, Kevin Reich, and Steve Fletcher.
Gordon, who has been on the City Council since 2006, lost his re-election bid in Ward 2 to Robin Wonsley Worlobah. On election night, the Democratic Socialist Worlobah led with 29 percent of first-choice votes, while DFLer Yusra Arab nabbed 28 percent, followed by Gordon at 26 percent. Gordon’s defeat was made official on Wednesday, when he was eliminated after the first round of tabulations.
[image_credit]Photo by Eric Mueller[/image_credit][image_caption]Robin Wonsley Worlobah[/image_caption]
Worlobah was named the unofficial winner in Ward 2 by a margin of just 19 votes over Arab. Election results still need to be finalized by the city’s canvassing board.
In Ward 3, Steve Fletcher also couldn’t hold on to his seat. Michael Rainville, who led in first-choice votes by 45 percent to 39 percent after election night, was named the winner after two rounds of tabulation. In the final round, Rainville received 51 percent of the vote; Fletcher got 42 percent.
[image_credit]Rainville for Ward 3[/image_credit][image_caption]Michael Rainville[/image_caption]
Fletcher, in a statement, said he was proud of his accomplishments during his term on the council, including the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention and the passage of the Minneapolis 2040 plan.
Elliott Payne, a challenger in Ward 1, also carried an election night advantage into a win Wednesday over an incumbent, Kevin Reich, who has been on the council since 2009. On election night, Payne held a lead of 48 to 43 percent in first-choice votes. Payne was able to claim victory after the next round of tabulation, with 50 percent to Reich’s 45.
[image_credit]Elliott Payne for City Council[/image_credit][image_caption]Elliott Payne[/image_caption]
One City Council incumbent who faced a tough race did secure re-election: Jeremiah Ellison in Ward 5.
Ellison had a lead after election night, grabbing 32 percent of first-choice votes, which was good for a seven-point lead over two challengers — Kristel Porter and Victor Martinez, who both received 25 percent.
Ellison was declared the winner on Wednesday over Porter after Martinez was eliminated during the third round of tabulations. The final tally was Ellison with 38.6 percent and Porter with 36.9 percent, a difference of 93 votes. Pointing to the margin, Porter, in a statement, said her “role with the community is far from over.”
[image_credit]Courtesy of Aisha Chughtai[/image_credit][image_caption]Aisha Chughtai[/image_caption]
That big lead rolled into a second-round win over Alicia Gibson, with Chughtai receiving 50 percent of the vote and Gibson picking up 33 percent.
“For a young organizer, a renter, a daughter of an immigrant family, for a campaign funded ten dollars at a time by working-class neighbors,” said Chughtai in a statement, “this is an absolutely incredible achievement.”
A point that should be made. Mr. Ellison only received ~ 31% of the vote on the first round, which means ~69% of the voters wanted someone else. The problem in the 5th ward was we had 3-4 really good alternatives and that divided the not Ellison vote on the first go around, if we only had a choice between Mr. Ellison and 1 of the top 2 challenger vote getters, (like ward 4) suspect he would also be out the city hall door. No way of getting around it, bad council people are bad council people.
Ranked Choice Voting protects incumbents. The old top 2 primary system would have consolidated the opposition to Ellison into a single candidate. RCV fractures the opposition.
I am wondering what is the ethnic make up of the new city council. I googled it, whenever you ask google about race you don’t always get an answer. Please let me know if anyone knows. Thanks
I think these are photos of the winners.