# November 4, 2025 *Minnesota election day on which Minneapolis re-elected its mayor and Eastern Carver County voters approved a school operating levy.* **November 4, 2025** was an election day in [[Minnesota]]. In [[Minneapolis]], the incumbent mayor was re-elected by 50% to 44% after ranked-choice transfers, on a turnout of 55% that the project's at-issue record describes as a record. The same entry states that he has said this term will be his final one.[^1] In Eastern Carver County, District 112 reported that voters approved an operating levy increase of $742 per pupil, about $7 million a year, with 62% of the vote.[^2][^3] The at-issue entry built on this date sets the Minneapolis result against "the county's federal instruments" in [[Hennepin County, Minnesota]].[^1] By election day, the federal action against the city had already ended. On May 21, 2025 the Department of Justice moved to "dismiss with prejudice" its suit against the city and retracted its June 2023 findings, and the court granted the dismissal in late May 2025.[^4][^5] One federal instrument in the county was still open on November 4, 2025. That was the Department's civil rights investigation of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office's plea-negotiation policy, opened May 5, 2025 and closed February 26–27, 2026 after the office amended the policy.[^6][^7] The instrument still running after both federal actions closed is the State's own. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights' court-enforceable settlement concerning the city's police department was approved July 13, 2023. It terminates only on a judicial finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance."[^8] The at-issue entry's anchor is a March 2025 presidential action. The entry cites it for the proposition that the accountability horizon for the executive party to the state agreement is "fixed and short."[^1] ## When The Minneapolis municipal election and the District 112 referendum were both decided on November 4, 2025.[^1][^2] In the sequence of instruments, the date falls after the federal consent decree with Minneapolis was dismissed in May 2025.[^5] It falls before the Department of Justice closed its investigation of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office in February 2026.[^7] ## What The Minneapolis contest was a mayoral election decided after ranked-choice transfers, and it returned the incumbent for a term he has said will be his last.[^1] The District 112 question was an operating levy referendum, which the district reported as approved.[^2][^3] ## Where Minneapolis lies in Hennepin County. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the county's population at 1,284,784 as of July 1, 2025.[^9] The project's research dossier computes that figure as 22.0% of the state's July 1, 2025 estimate of 5,830,405; the ratio is derived from the two Census pages and is not itself published.[^9][^10] The levy referendum was held in District 112, Eastern Carver County.[^2] ## How much District 112's approved operating levy increase is $742 per pupil, which the district put at approximately $7 million per year.[^2] ## How many - Minneapolis mayor: 50% to 44% after ranked-choice transfers; turnout 55%, as stated in the at-issue record.[^1] - District 112 referendum: passed with 62%, per the district.[^2] ## In the at-issue record The pair is catalogued as AI-Hennepin-081, and also as AI-081, at rank 81 and shock 49 in Block G of the at-issue list. It rests on one news source from sahanjournal.com, for which the pack carries no article URL.[^1] See [[At issue 081 - Minneapolis re-elected its mayor on November 4, 2025]]. The entry concludes that the city will be led by a mayor in his final term "through the close of every one of" the county's federal instruments.[^1] The rest of the pack bears on that conclusion as follows. - The federal consent decree, *United States v. City of Minneapolis*, had been dismissed with prejudice by the end of May 2025, before the election.[^4][^5] - The Department of Justice investigation of the County Attorney's Office closed in February 2026, three months into the new term.[^6][^7] - The state settlement has no closing date. It terminates on a court's finding of compliance, not at the end of any term of office.[^8] The record does not establish how the anchoring presidential action bears on the election beyond the entry's own statement of its relevance.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - **June 1, 2020** — The Minnesota Department of Human Rights filed a charge against the City of Minneapolis and the [[Minneapolis Police Department]].[^11] - **April 21, 2021** — The Department of Justice opened a pattern-or-practice investigation of the city and MPD under 34 U.S.C. § 12601. It was announced one day after the [[Chauvin verdict]].[^12] - **April 27, 2022** — MDHR found "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination" under the [[Minnesota Human Rights Act]].[^11] The report documented that 13 of the 14 people killed by MPD officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous. It also found that Black residents were 19% of the population but 63% of recorded use-of-force incidents from 2010 to 2020.[^11] - **March 31 and July 13, 2023** — The court-enforceable settlement was filed on March 31. Judge Karen Janisch of [[Hennepin County District Court]] approved it on July 13 in *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, [[No. 27-CV-23-4177]].[^8][^13] - **June 16, 2023** — The Department of Justice found reasonable cause that MPD "uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers." It also found that MPD "unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities."[^14] The findings report runs 89 pages.[^15] - **March 18, 2024** — ELEFA began work as the settlement's [[independent evaluator]].[^16] - **January 6, 2025** — The Department of Justice filed a 169-page consent decree providing for an independent monitor. The case is [[United States v. City of Minneapolis (MPD consent decree)]], No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.).[^17] - **April 28, 2025** — The Hennepin County Attorney's Office put into effect a [[Negotiations Policy]] for cases involving adult defendants. According to the policy text as published, it provides that "proposed resolutions should consider the person charged as a whole person, including their racial identity and age."[^18][^19] County Attorney Moriarty was reported as saying the policy "does not instruct our prosecutors to treat someone differently because of their race."[^19] - **May 5, 2025** — The Department of Justice opened civil rights investigation [[DOJ 25-469]] into the office's policy. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated: "It is unconstitutional and morally abhorrent to make different prosecutorial decisions based on a person's race."[^6] - **May 21, 2025** — In release 25-534, the Civil Rights Division moved to dismiss the Minneapolis and [[Louisville]] suits and closed both investigations. It retracted those findings along with others, including findings for Phoenix, Memphis and the Louisiana State Police.[^4] Dhillon described the action as "ending the Biden Civil Rights Division's failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders."[^4] - **May 28, 2025** — Judge [[Paul A. Magnuson]] granted dismissal with prejudice, citing "grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest." The May 28 date is Sahan Journal's; the Clearinghouse docket dates the dismissal May 27, 2025.[^5][^12] - **November 4, 2025** — Minneapolis re-elected its mayor.[^1] - **February 26–27, 2026** — The Department of Justice closed DOJ 25-469 after the office amended the policy. The amendment replaced the racial-identity instruction with a direction to "be aware of and actively seek to eliminate bias, including race-based bias."[^7] Dhillon's closure letter said the Department "appreciate[s] that HCAO now has corrected a policy that clearly violated the Constitution." It added that "Closure of our investigation does not foreclose the remedies that private parties may seek against HCAO."[^7] Office spokesman Daniel Borgertpoepping called the investigation a "stunt."[^20] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *AI-Hennepin-081 (also AI-081): Minneapolis re-elected its mayor on November 4, 2025* (entry dated 2025-11-04; the entry cites one news source, sahanjournal.com, with no article URL in the pack) — states the 50%–44% result after ranked-choice transfers, the record 55% turnout and the mayor's stated final term. The URL below is the entry's anchor, The White House presidential action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025), which the entry cites for the "fixed and short" accountability horizon; the URL does not itself report the vote. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^2]: Independent School District 112, *Eastern Carver County voters approve referendum* (November 4, 2025) — $742 per pupil operating levy increase, approximately $7 million per year, passed with 62%. https://www.district112.org/district/news/new-page/~board/district-news-posts/post/eastern-carver-county-voters-approve-referendum-question2 [^3]: Independent School District 112, *Vote 2025* (2025) — the district's referendum page. https://www.district112.org/vote2025 [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, release 25-534 (May 21, 2025) — moves to dismiss the Minneapolis and Louisville suits with prejudice, closes the investigations, and retracts findings including Minneapolis's. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-department-justices-civil-rights-division-dismisses-biden-era-police-investigations-and [^5]: Sahan Journal, *Minneapolis federal consent decree dismissed* (May 2025) — Judge Paul A. Magnuson grants dismissal with prejudice on May 28, 2025, citing "grave misgivings". https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minneapolis-federal-consent-decree-dismissed/ [^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, *U.S. Department of Justice Announces Civil Rights Investigation into the Consideration of Race in Prosecutorial Decision making by Minnesota's Hennepin County* (May 5, 2025, release 25-469) — opening of the investigation and AAG Dhillon's statement. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-department-justice-announces-civil-rights-investigation-consideration-race-prosecutorial [^7]: FOX 9, *Feds drop investigation into race-based Hennepin County policy* (February 27, 2026) — closure of the investigation on February 26–27, 2026 after the policy amendment; text of the amendment and of Dhillon's closure letter. https://www.fox9.com/news/feds-drop-investigation-race-based-hennepin-county-policy-feb-27 [^8]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, civil rights update on the court-enforceable settlement (2023) — settlement filed March 31, 2023 and approved July 13, 2023 by Judge Karen Janisch, No. 27-CV-23-4177, terminating on a finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance". https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/newsroom/civilrightsupdates.jsp?id=1061-584578 [^9]: U.S. Census Bureau, *QuickFacts: Hennepin County, Minnesota* — population 1,284,784 (July 1, 2025 estimate). https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/hennepincountyminnesota/PST045224 [^10]: U.S. Census Bureau, *QuickFacts: Minnesota* — population 5,830,405 (July 1, 2025 estimate). https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MN/PST045224 [^11]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (April 27, 2022) — charge filed June 1, 2020; probable-cause finding; 13 of 14 people killed; 19% of population and 63% of use-of-force incidents, 2010–2020. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf [^12]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. City of Minneapolis*, case 18178 — investigation opened April 21, 2021 under 34 U.S.C. § 12601; dismissal docketed May 27, 2025. https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^13]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, case 43326 — docket of No. 27-CV-23-4177. https://clearinghouse.net/case/43326/ [^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Justice Department Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis* (June 16, 2023, release 23-674) — reasonable-cause findings. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-minneapolis-police-department-and-city [^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Investigation of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (June 16, 2023) — the 89-page findings report. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-06/minneapolis_findings_report.pdf [^16]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *MPD court-enforceable settlement agreement* (document hub) — independent evaluator ELEFA began March 18, 2024. https://mn.gov/mdhr/mpd/agreement/ [^17]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Justice Department Reaches Agreement with the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (January 6, 2025) — 169-page consent decree with an independent monitor, No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.). https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-agreement-city-minneapolis-and-minneapolis-police-department [^18]: Hennepin County Attorney's Office, *Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants* (effective April 28, 2025; copy as published by KSTP, graded S in the dossier) — policy text. https://kstp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Negotiation-Policy-for-Cases-Involving-Adult-Defendants.pdf [^19]: Minnesota Lawyer, *Hennepin race-based plea policy* (May 2, 2025) — reporting on the policy and the County Attorney's response. https://minnlawyer.com/2025/05/02/hennepin-race-based-plea-policy/ [^20]: Hoodline, *Hennepin County torches feds after DOJ drops civil rights probe* (February 2026) — spokesman's "stunt" statement. https://hoodline.com/2026/02/hennepin-county-torches-feds-after-doj-drops-civil-rights-probe/