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City Cast Twin Cities

City Cast Twin Cities

 🗳️ Your last-minute election guide

November 3, 2025

Happy Election Eve, Twin Cities! It’s Adam today. Before we get into what's on your ballot tomorrow and where to find more info, I gotta give a shoutout to Renegade Mike for hitting his 30,000th ride on Valley Fair's wooden roller coaster. Mike, your fortitude and commitment to having your body thrashed around is truly inspiring.

What the Cities Are Talking About

A large sign outside a voter station that reads "Vote Here" with an arrow pointing to the right and a USA flag painted on it.
Please vote tomorrow. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)

Are You Ready For Election Day Tomorrow?

We have municipal elections tomorrow in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, and you should get out and vote! Minneapolis is voting for Mayor, all 13 City Council seats, Park Board, and Board of Estimation and Taxation. St. Paul is voting for Mayor, a referendum to provide funding for St. Paul public schools, and a city charter amendment to allow City Council to issue fines for ordinance violations. [City of Minneapolis / Bring Me The News]

  • Minneapolis mayoral mayhem: The mayoral election has been a rollercoaster so far, and we're headed into Tuesday with four frontrunners: Jacob Frey, Omar Fateh, DeWayne Davis, and Jazz Hampton. Fateh, Davis, and Hampton are each hoping to unseat incumbent Mayor Frey, and they have formed a coalition calling themselves the "Slate for Change”. The three candidates are each campaigning for as many first choice votes as possible, but encouraging their supporters to rank all three on their ballots. [Star Tribune]
  • More info on mayoral candidates: Sahan Journal put together a fantastic quiz you can take to see how much your opinions align with each mayoral candidate in Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you want to go deeper, check out the Minneapolis mayoral forum and the St. Paul mayoral forum that were both moderated by City Cast Twin Cities contributor Tane Danger. [Sahan Journal / Fox 9]
  • City Council contenders: All 13 seats of the Minneapolis City Council are also up for grabs in this election. In today's episode of City Cast Twin Cities, contributors Tane Danger and Winter Keefer highlighted the particularly contentious elections in Ward 5, Ward 7, and Ward 10. The Star Tribune also put out a great (and not paywalled) questionnaire with all of the city council candidates, and you can read more about the candidates in your ward. [Star Tribune]
  • Rank your ballot: Multiple races in both cities are utilizing ranked choice voting in this election; that means that if your first choice candidate doesn't win, you can still have a say in who your mayor is by ranking your second and third choice candidates. If you're unfamiliar with how ranked choice voting works, my fridge and I made a little video for you explaining it. [City Cast Twin Cities]

Also Worth Your Time

Mutual aid for our neighbors: About 7.8 percent of Minnesotans rely on SNAP (that's about 1 in 13 people in our state). With funding running out, thousands of Minnesotans are having to figure out how to put food on the table while still paying to keep a roof over their head. I wanted to include some resources for folks in need, as well as opportunities for readers to donate if they can:

  • Places in Minnesota offering free food to SNAP recipients in November [Bring Me The News]
  • Food resources in Minneapolis [City of Minneapolis]
  • North Country Food Bank is accepting monetary donations. They feed about 35,000 people per year in northwest and west central Minnesota [North Country Food Bank]
  • Channel 1 Regional Food Bank is accepting monetary donations. They serve 14 counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin through a network of over 100 food shelves [Channel 1 Regional Food Bank]
Two people on a canoe in a large body of water near a small mountain.
Canoers paddle at sunset in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. (Star Tribune / Getty Images)

Border Patrol in the BWCA?! A GOP proposal in the U.S. Senate would allow the government to do Border Patrol operations and install tactical infrastructure in the Boundary Waters. Proponents of the Border Lands Conservation Act claim it gives the DHS the power to "protect our most precious spaces." Opponents argue it gives them the power to "destroy, bulldoze, and fence off" our public lands. [Star Tribune]

Zen Box is Closing: 😢 After more than 20 years of service, Zen Box Izakaya announced it will serve its last meal on November 22. Like many folks on Reddit, I'm crushed – they've fought hard to stick around this long. They offered pay-what-you-can meals during the pandemic, and they made it through a two and a half-year construction project outside their front door. Grab one final bento box while you can. [Star Tribune]

Let's Go Coach! Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve has been named to the 2026 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame! She’s led the Lynx to four WNBA championships and has been named Coach of the Year four times in her 16-year tenure. Reeve will be inducted to the Hall of Fame on June 27, 2026. [Bring Me The News]

Affordable Insurance Becoming Unaffordable: Minnesota's health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act is seeing sharp premium increases as federal subsidies run out and insurers are seeking higher rates. As a result, many Minnesotans using MNSure could end up paying much higher rates or dropping from insurance altogether. [MinnPost]

What to Do

Monday, November 3

Tuesday, November 4

Wednesday, November 5

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Before I go, I want to shout out some of our new Neighbors who have joined the City Cast Twin Cities membership program! Thanks to Chris C., Karrie H., and Tane D. (a literal member of our team, bless his heart) for supporting the work we're doing here. Have a great week, Twin Cities!

— Adam Sage

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