Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey won a third term on Wednesday, overcoming a tough challenge from three rivals working together as a team to topple him.

Frey had a 10-point lead over Sen. Omar Fateh, his strongest challenger, on Tuesday evening, and he received 50% of the votes after first- and second-choice votes were tallied.

Progressives and democratic socialists in Minnesota’s largest city again failed to out-rank Frey. With the financial help of city business interests, Frey convinced enough voters that Minneapolis’ falling crime rates and relatively modest rent increases compared to other large cities earned him a third term.

Frey thanked his supporters in a statement Wednesday.

“Minneapolis is a great city rising, and our future is bright,” Frey said. “From right now through my final seconds as mayor, I will work tirelessly to make our great city a place where everyone, regardless of who you are or where you come from, can build a brilliant life in an affordable home and a safe neighborhood.”

Fateh will return to the Minnesota Senate with an even higher profile, continuing a rapid ascent. He moved to Minnesota a decade ago and then scored an upset victory over a prominent state senator in 2020. His campaign received national media coverage and he earned the moniker “The Mamdani of Minneapolis,” a reference to the democratic socialist candidate for mayor of New York City. Mamdani won his election Tuesday.

In a statement, Fateh said he was proud of his campaign even though it was unable to prevail over big-money political action committees and wealthy donors.

“They may have won this race, but we have changed the narrative about what kind of city Minneapolis can be. Because now, truly affordable housing, workers’ rights, and public safety rooted in care are no longer side conversations; they are at the center of the narrative,” Fateh said.

Fateh’s loss signals that Minneapolis voters weren’t ready to back his democratic socialist agenda, which included a city income tax and rent control. He also wouldn’t commit to reappointing Minneapolis Chief Brian O’Hara. During his 2020 Senate campaign, he expressed support for defunding police, and he supported a failed 2021 ballot initiative to dismantle the police department and reconstitute it under the control of the City Council. This year, he signed a petition that called for Minneapolis police officers to arrest masked federal agents.

In Dinkytown, University of Minnesota Junior Bailey Taylor said Tuesday that Fateh’s past support for defunding the police was a reason he ranked Frey first.

“I don’t agree with defunding the police because that is a bit silly, especially in a city like this,” Taylor said.

Frey’s win means he will likely continue to butt heads with a City Council that is controlled by a progressive bloc. A big money coalition was unable to dislodge several Minneapolis progressives from the council. Since progressives gained control of the council two years ago, Frey has vetoed many of their proposals, including a carbon emissions fee and minimum pay rates for Uber and Lyft drivers, though the latter eventually became law after the Legislature took it up.

In addition to an adversarial council, Frey confronts a city in transition and still recovering from the pandemic, which has eroded commercial property values and pushed property taxes higher for homeowners. 

On the campaign trail, mayoral candidates DeWayne Davis, Jazz Hampton and Fateh formed an alliance, creating a united opposition to the incumbent mayor and telling voters to not rank Frey.