With Mayor R.T. Rybak leaving after this term, the starting gate is wide open for all comers. Here are the names that I’ve seen mentioned, with at least a moderate degree of realistic possibility, so far. Feel free to use the comments if you know of others; I’ll update this list accordingly, if it looks like they’re for real, and not just off of somebody’s “wish list.” (I know that could be a close call to make, at this point.)
- That Minneapolis City Council member Gary Schiff wants the job has been apparent for quite some time. He’s in; his campaign website isn’t much, as of 8:30 Friday morning, but that will presumably change in a hurry.
- Another Council member, Betsy Hodges, is definitely in. Ditto on the website.
- Based on this article, former Council member Jackie Cherryhomes plans to run.
- I would characterize Minneapolis School Board member Hussein Samatar’s plans as “more likely to run than not.”
- Reliable information has it that Jim Graves is being encouraged to run.
- The name of former Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher came up on the news last night.
Minneapolis regularly appears in “best big cities to live in” lists. But to suggest that the new mayor will be facing challenges is soft-pedaling the matter. Especially given the inexplicable continued power of the “austerity” fetishists, and (even worse, in my book, though they in fact overlap) the vile, despicable, cowardly proponents of the war on public education.
I need to note that in this and future posts on this matter, healthy discussion is encouraged, and that includes fact-based critiques of candidate records and platforms. Personal attacks, however, will be removed. There is a lot of leash, here, but it’s not infinite.
Update: Others apparently considering the contest include Don Samuels, Tom Hoch, Tina Flint Smith, and Peter McLaughlin.
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