State DFL Committee Revokes Fateh Endorsement: Moderates and Socialists at Odds

Terry White is a regular contribu­tor. He is also the author of the Bet­ter Minneapolis newsletter and podcast. He lives in Field.

The Minnesota DFL Constitu­tion, Bylaws and Rules Committee announced on August 21 that they had revoked State Senator Omar Fateh’s Minneapolis DFL endorse­ment.

Fateh won the endorsement July 19 at the Minneapolis DFL City Convention in a second round of balloting conducted with badge vot­ing. But the committee ruled that the convention’s first round elec­tronic voting process “was substan­tially flawed” resulting in an im­proper outcome that left DeWayne Davis off the second round of vot­ing.

The committee, known as the CBRC, includes 30 voting mem­bers: two from each of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts, 11 from the State Central Committee, two from the State Executive Com­mittee, and the state Party Chair, Richard Carlbom. For this vote, two members recused themselves, leav­ing 28 votes cast. The final tally has not been released.

Party officials said that about 100 challenges to the convention were filed, including one from May­or Jacob Frey’s reelection cam­paign. During an August 19 hear­ing, challengers and respondents presented arguments to the com­mittee. The challengers were tied to moderate, left-center candidates, while those facing challenges were aligned with the more left-leaning Democratic Socialists of America faction of the DFL.

According to a draft DFL press release, the committee found “clear and convincing evidence” that the first round of convention votes con­tained a substantial undercount. That error eliminated mayoral can­didate DeWayne Davis from ad­vancing to the second round, the committee said. Officials deter­mined that not all eligible delegates were counted, rendering the results invalid.

Findings

The committee reviewed chal­lenges stemming from a discrepan­cy between the number of checked-in delegates and alternates, 1,028, and the official vote tally of 577. Party rules allowed 800 delegates to vote. The final voting pool was determined to be 754, of which 176 votes — about 23 percent — went uncounted.

The committee concluded that the ballot results were unreliable and should have been disregarded at the convention. Because they were not, officials ruled that the subse­quent ballot was invalid.

Endorsements for the Minneap­olis Park and Recreation Board were allowed to stand. According to the committee, that vote was con­ducted by a show of delegate badges rather than electronically and in­volved only one round of voting. Some challengers, however, argued that the use of badges made it diffi­cult to confirm whether all who voted were credentialed delegates. The late hour of the 13-hour con­vention limited the ability to vali­date those votes.

Other findings by the commit­tee: the entire Ward 5 credential book was lost; the master check-in sheet at registration was not proper­ly secured resulting in the opportu­nity to replace, delete or alter ballot ID numbers; non-members of the credentials committee accessed the unsecured digital record of creden­tials; and upgrading of alternates was flawed resulting in some not receiving their blue voting badges.

Remedies

In addition to revoking Fateh’s endorsement, the committee barred the Minneapolis DFL from endors­ing a mayoral candidate in 2025. The local party was also placed on two years’ probation under the su­pervision of the DFL State Execu­tive Committee. As part of that pro­bation, the Minneapolis DFL must submit a best practices plan and a compliance plan.

Impact

The decision gives all Minne­apolis mayoral candidates who sought endorsement access to the party’s voter database, known as VAN. Normally, access is reserved for endorsed candidates unless no endorsement is made.

Political observers note that DFL endorsements in Minneapolis often carry significant weight with voters,and most endorsedcandi­dates go on to win their races. With no endorsement in the 2025 mayor­al contest, voters will rank their top three choices from among 15 candi­dates without direction from the city party.

Fateh has the option to appeal the ruling. In a statement, he said he was “disappointed and angered to see 28 party insiders revoke the endorsement and overturn the votes of hundreds of Minneapolis resi­dents.”

Several elected officials issued a joint statement condemning the action, including U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, state Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (Fateh’s sister-in-law), Hennepin County Commissioners Irene Fer­nando, Marion Greene and Angela Conley, and Minneapolis City Council Members Elliott Payne, Aisha Chughtai, Jamal Osman, Ja­son Chavez and Aurin Chowdhury.

Mayor Jacob Frey’s campaign praised the ruling. “I am glad that this inaccurate and obviously flawed process was set aside,” his campaign said in a statement. “The outcome of this election now rests where it should — with all the peo­ple of Minneapolis.”

Analysis: Rethinking Minneapo­lis’ Endorsement Process

The Minneapolis DFL’s unprec­edented loss of authority in this year’s mayoral race has renewed debate over whether the caucus and convention system should continue.

Critics argue that the process is flawed and unnecessary. City elec­tions are nonpartisan by law and already use ranked-choice voting, reducing the influence of party en­dorsements. The Minneapolis DFL, a volunteer-run organization, has struggled to manage caucuses and conventions, often leading to dis­putes, appeals and lengthy chal­lenges.

Some observers suggest alterna­tives. One proposal would allow any registered DFL candidate who collects at least 250 voter signatures to access the VAN, a resource typi­cally reserved for endorsed candi­dates. Others argue the party should focus on educating voters about all candidates rather than steering sup­port to a single contender.

Endorsements also carry less weight in practice, critics say. Many DFL elected officials endorse can­didates regardless of the local par­ty’s decision, leaving voters to sort throughendorsementsfromunions, advocacy groups and individuals.

Some reform advocates say that eliminatinglocalpartyendorse­ments, combined with ranked-choice voting and nonpartisan bal­lots, could shift attention away from convention maneuvering and to­ward city governance.

The controversy has already drawn national attention, with the New York Times reporting on the DFL committee’s decision. Party leaders emphasized that the elec­tronic system used in the city con­vention will not be used in the No­vember general election, which as usual will be conducted on paper ballots.

ENDORSEMENT REVOKED

A Minneapolis DFL flyer proclaiming Omar Fatah’s endorsement was sent to likely Democratic voters even though his endorsement had already been officially revoked. Critics allege the mailing was done deliberately, noting that this type of campaign liter­ature is not typically distributed this early but rather closer to the election. (Images: DFL)