2013 Minneapolis mayoral election

A candidate's self-identified political party does not indicate endorsement by that party. Political party endorsements are listed in the "Political party endorsements" section below.

• Mark V. Anderson, Simplify Government[6][10]
• Merrill Anderson, Jobs & Justice[6][14]
• Mark Andrew, DFL[6][15][16][note 1][note 2]
• Neal Baxter, Independent[6][17]
• Troy Benjegerdes, Local Energy/Food[6][18]
• Alicia K. Bennett, DFL[6][19]
• Edmund Bernard Bruyere, Legacy-Next Generation[6][20]
• Bob "Again" Carney, Jr., Demand Transit Revolution[6][21]
• Jackie Cherryhomes, DFL[6][22][note 1][note 2]
• Christopher Clark, Libertarian Party of Minnesota[6][23]
• Dan Cohen, Jobs Downtown Casino[6][24][25][note 2]
• James Everett, Green Party of Minnesota[6][26]
• Bob Fine, DFL[6][27][note 2]
• Cyd Gorman, Police Reform[6][28]
• Mike Gould, DFL[6][29]
• Kurtis W. Hanna, Minnesota Pirate Party[6][30]
• John Leslie Hartwig, Independent[6][31]
• Betsy Hodges, DFL[5][6][22][note 1][note 2]
• Gregg A. Iverson, DFL[6][32]
• Bill Kahn, Last Minneapolis Mayor[6][33]
• Jaymie Kelly, Stop Foreclosures Now[6][34]
• Tony Lane, Socialist Workers Party[6][35]
• Doug Mann, Green Party of Minnesota[6][36]
• Abdul M. Rahaman "The Rock", We the people...[6][37]
• Joshua Rea, End Homelessness Now[6][38]
• Don Samuels, DFL[6][22][note 1][note 2]
• Ole Savior, Republican Party of Minnesota[6][39]
• Captain Jack Sparrow, Count All Rankings[6][40]
• James "Jimmy" L. Stroud, Jr., The people's choice[6][41]
• Jeffrey Alan Wagner, DFL[6][42]
• John Charles Wilson, Lauraist Communist[6][43]
• Cam Winton, independent responsible inclusive[6][22][44][45][note 1][note 2]
• Stephanie Woodruff, DFL[6][46][47][note 2]
• Rahn V. Workcuff, Independence Party of Minnesota[6][48]
• Christopher Robin Zimmerman, Libertarian[6][49]

• 
  Merrill Anderson
• 
  Mark Andrew
• 
  Troy Benjegerdes
• 
  Jackie Cherryhomes
• 
  Dan Cohen
• 
  Bob Fine
• 
  Kurtis W. Hanna
• 
  Betsy Hodges
• 
  Gregg A. Iverson
• 
  Bill Kahn
• 
  Don Samuels
• 
  Ole Savior
• 
  Captain Jack Sparrow
• 
  John Charles Wilson
• 
  Cam Winton
• 
  Stephanie Woodruff
• 
  Christopher Robin Zimmerman

• Not pictured: Mark V. Anderson, Neal Baxter, Alicia K. Bennett, Edmund Bernard Bruyere, Bob Carney, Jr., Christopher Clark, James Everett, Cyd Gorman, Mike Gould, John Leslie Hartwig, Jaymie Kelly, Tony Lane, Doug Mann, Abdun M. Rahaman, Joshua Rea, James L. Stroud, Jr., Jeffrey Alan Wagner, Rahn V. Workcuff

Schiff, Thomas

• On June 19, DFL City Council member Gary Schiff announced an end to his campaign and backed Hodges.[54][note 1]
• Jim Thomas announced his departure from the race on August 12 and put his support behind Andrew.[55]

Tina Smith in 2012

• John Erwin, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Commissioner[22]
• Jim Graves, businessman and Democratic nominee for the 6th congressional district in 2012[56][57]
• Tom Hoch, President and CEO of the Hennepin Theatre Trust[22]
• R. T. Rybak, incumbent mayor[5]
• Hussein Samatar, Minneapolis School Board member[22] (died August 25, 2013)
• Tina Smith, chief of staff for Governor Mark Dayton[58]

Almost a month before Rybak announced that he intended to leave office, DFL City Council member Betsy Hodges of Minneapolis' thirteenth ward declared that she would run for mayor.[59] Her plans, however, were contingent upon whether Rybak would elect to run for a fourth time.[59] When Rybak made his announcement in December 2012, Hodges formally proclaimed her candidacy.[5]

The Star Tribune reported in early December 2012 that former DFL City Council President Jackie Cherryhomes was also considering a bid for the mayor's office.[60] Cherryhomes last held office in 2001, but remained involved at the Minneapolis City Hall as a lobbyist.[61] Like Hodges, she only intended to run if Rybak opted not to[60] and, like Hodges, she announced that she would run promptly after Rybak declared he would not, on December 27.[61]

DFL City Council member Gary Schiff from Minneapolis' ninth ward was also mulling a mayoral run in mid-December when he filed paperwork to form a committee that could support his potential candidacy.[62] Unlike Hodges and Cherryhomes, Schiff stated that whether he would run or not would probably not be contingent upon what Rybak decided to do.[62] On January 29, Schiff announced that he would seek the mayor's seat.[63]

Fifth ward City Council member Don Samuels, another DFLer, was considering running for the office shortly after Rybak announced that he wouldn't run again.[64] Samuels had served on the City Council for a decade at that time and had most recently run but dropped out of a race for Hennepin County Commissioner.[64] A day after Schiff made his candidacy official, Samuels entered the race as well, becoming the third sitting member of City Council to do so.[65]

Mark Andrew, formerly a Hennepin County Commissioner and the chair of the DFL from 1995 until 1997, expressed in early January that he was "very interested" in potentially vying for the position of mayor.[66] Since leaving public office, Andrew had begun GreenMark, an environmental marketing firm.[67] He officially declared his candidacy on February 7, 2013, acknowledging his late entrance into the race relative to some of his opponents.[67]

Running as an independent, attorney Cam Winton is mentioned in a Star Tribune article dated March 20, 2013.[68] Winton, a Republican, stated that he did not intend to seek the DFL endorsement, making him the only candidate declared at the time to do so.[69]

Dan Cohen, a Republican former City Council member, said on May 28 that he would run for mayor if the DFL failed to agree on an endorsement.[70] Cohen, who sits on Minneapolis' Charter and Planning Commissions, was a Council member in the 1960s[71] He last ran for mayor in 1969, losing to Charles Stenvig.[25] Cohen formally declared his candidacy on June 18.[71]

The first debate between mayoral candidates took place on March 27 at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.[72] Moderated by professor of political science Larry Jacobs, as well as some of his students, the debate included Andrew, Hodges, Schiff, Cherryhomes, and Samuels, noted by Jacobs as being the "leading DFL candidates".[72] Winton observed the debate from the audience but was not invited to participate as he was not seeking the DFL endorsement.[72] Candidates fielded questions on the new Vikings stadium (responding anywhere from heavily in favor of the project to staunchly against it), property taxes (no candidate accepted a pledge from Jacobs not to raise them), how to revitalize North Minneapolis, and their qualifications for the job of mayor.[72]

Samuels, Hodges, Cherryhomes, Andrew, Schiff, and Thomas seated at the DFL endorsement convention on June 15, 2013

An endorsement convention was held by the DFL on June 15, 2013, at the Minneapolis Convention Center.[73] All candidates then declared with the exception of Winton (Andrew, Cherryhomes, Hodges, Samuels, Schiff, and Thomas) sought the nomination and were present at the event.[73] Sixty percent of delegate votes were required to receive the endorsement.[74]

During the first round of voting, Jim Thomas, Cheryhomes, and Samuels were eliminated as each failed to secure the ten percent of the vote required to move on to the second round.[75] Schiff was eliminated after the second ballot, leaving Andrew and Hodges.[73] Andrew came first in every round of voting but never reached the 60 percent threshold.[75] Hodges invited her delegates outside of the Convention Center to eat pizza.[75] Their absence meant that a quorum was not present at the convention and so, on the fifth ballot, the convention ended with no endorsement.[73]

None of the candidates passed the threshold to be elected in the first round, necessitating several rounds of vote transfers. Betsy Hodges was elected in the 33rd round.