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Minneapolis Election: City Clerk Reports High Voter Turnout As Tabulation Resumes Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The next round of ballot tabulation for Minneapolis' ranked-choice elections resumed Wednesday morning with many races still undecided, including several city council races.

City election officials announced Wednesday afternoon that incumbent Jacob Frey has been re-elected as mayor.

As of shortly after 2 p.m., the winners of the city council races were announced.

Robin Wonsley Worlobah has been declared the unofficial winner in Ward 2, defeating incumbent Cam Gordon and challenger Yusra Arab.

Wonsley Worlobah said she is the first Black Democratic Socialist elected to Minneapolis City Council. She earned 42.6% of the vote, compared to Arab's 42.4%.

In Ward 5, Jeremiah Ellison has been declared the unofficial winner with 38.6% of the vote.

Kevin Reich has been defeated in the race in Ward 1. He earned 45.4% of the vote, but it was not enough to defeat challenger Elliott Payne, who earned 50.2%.

In Ward 10, Aisha Chughtai appears to have won the seat vacated by City Council President Lisa Bender. Chughtai won 50.3% of the vote, while Alicia Gibson won 33.6%.

Michael Rainville has ousted incumbent representative Steve Fletcher in Ward 3, with 51.5% of the vote.

Park and Recreation Commissioner District 1, Billy Menz, has also been declared an unofficial winner.

"Several delays were the result of a necessity to clean up the raw data and prepare it for tabulation," Minneapolis City Clerk Casey Carl said.

Carl says voter turnout was 53.94% in Minneapolis.

"That's a record high for an off-year, municipal-only election," Carl said.

On Tuesday evening, residents of the city voted against the proposed amendment to remove the Minneapolis Police Department from the city charter and replace it with a Department of Public Safety.

The two other proposals -- rent control and "strong mayor" amendments -- were passed by voters.

For a look at the results in the other top races of 2021 in Minnesota, click here.

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