# August 11, 2026 nonpartisan primary *Nonpartisan primary held in Hennepin County, Minnesota, to narrow the field for the county attorney's office.* The August 11, 2026 nonpartisan primary narrowed the field in the 2026 election for [[Hennepin County Attorney]] in [[Minnesota]].[^1] Five candidates ran. [[Cedrick Frazier]] and Anders Folk advanced to the general election on [[November 3, 2026]].[^1] The contest followed an announcement by the incumbent, [[Mary Moriarty]], on [[August 7, 2025]] that she would not seek a second term. Moriarty had held the office since January 2, 2023, and her term ends January 4, 2027.[^2] The project's at-issue record treats the 2026 race as an open contest. It also places the office in the context of a 2025 federal civil rights investigation, for which no filing, docket or agency finding is in the record assembled here.[^1][^8] ## Who Five candidates ran in the primary. Frazier and Folk were the two who advanced to the November general election.[^1] The four most recent holders of the office are Tom Johnson, Michael Freeman, Amy Klobuchar and Mary Moriarty. Three of the four are graduates of the [[University of Minnesota Law School]]: - [[Tom Johnson]] graduated in 1970.[^6] - [[Michael Freeman]] received his J.D. in 1974.[^3][^5] - Moriarty graduated in 1989.[^2] [[Amy Klobuchar]] received her J.D. from the [[University of Chicago Law School]] in 1985. She is the only one of the four who left the office for higher federal office.[^7] Before his first term as county attorney, Freeman represented District 40 in the [[Minnesota Senate]] from 1982 to 1991.[^3][^4] Before becoming county attorney, Moriarty was Hennepin County Chief Public Defender from 2014 to 2021.[^2] ## When - **1979–1991:** Tom Johnson serves as Hennepin County Attorney.[^6] - **January 7, 1991 – January 5, 1999:** Michael Freeman serves his first tenure as county attorney.[^3][^5] - **January 5, 1999 – January 3, 2007:** Amy Klobuchar serves as county attorney.[^7] - **January 3, 2007 – January 2, 2023:** Freeman serves his second tenure.[^5] - **January 2, 2023:** Mary Moriarty takes office.[^2] - **August 7, 2025:** Moriarty announces she will not seek a second term.[^2] - **August 11, 2026:** Five candidates run in the nonpartisan primary. Frazier and Folk advance.[^1] - **November 3, 2026:** The general election is held.[^1] - **January 4, 2027:** Moriarty's term ends.[^2] ## In the at-issue record The entry [[At issue 080 - Five candidates ran in the August 11, 2026]] records that five candidates ran in the primary.[^1] It states that the office "drew a federal civil rights investigation in 2025." It also describes the November 3, 2026 contest as "the first genuinely open contest for the chair since 2022, and only the third since 1998." The entry lists its supporting sources as news and record sources from Wikipedia and Sahan Journal.[^1] The entry is anchored to a March 2025 presidential action, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*. The stated ground for that anchor is that "contest frequency for a charging office is an accountability metric."[^8] That presidential action does not itself document the investigation. The record assembled here does not include a complaint, docket, status or agency finding for the 2025 investigation. This article therefore does not state what that investigation alleged or concluded.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *2026 Hennepin County Attorney election* — the August 11, 2026 nonpartisan primary; Cedrick Frazier and Anders Folk advancing to the November 3, 2026 general election; source of the at-issue entry's election facts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Hennepin_County_Attorney_election [^2]: Wikipedia, *Mary Moriarty* — Hennepin County Attorney since January 2, 2023, term ending January 4, 2027; announced August 7, 2025 she would not seek a second term; University of Minnesota Law School, 1989; Hennepin County Chief Public Defender 2014–2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Moriarty [^3]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Legislator record: Michael O. Freeman* — Minnesota Senate District 40, 1982–1991; biographical record including University of Minnesota Law School J.D. 1974 and county attorney service. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10197 [^4]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Finding aid 00531* — biographical record of Michael O. Freeman. https://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00531.xml [^5]: Wikipedia, *Michael O. Freeman* — Hennepin County Attorney January 7, 1991 – January 5, 1999 and January 3, 2007 – January 2, 2023; University of Minnesota Law School J.D. 1974. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O._Freeman [^6]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Tom Johnson '70, former Hennepin County Attorney, dies at 75* (2020-06-17) — Johnson's University of Minnesota Law class of 1970; county attorney 1979–1991. https://law.umn.edu/news/2020-06-17-tom-johnson-70-former-hennepin-county-attorney-dies-75 [^7]: Wikipedia, *Amy Klobuchar* — Hennepin County Attorney January 5, 1999 – January 3, 2007; University of Chicago Law School J.D. 1985. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Klobuchar [^8]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — presidential action cited by at-issue entry 080 as its anchor; does not itself document the 2025 investigation. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/