On Sept. 29, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party State Central Committee upheld the decision by the Minnesota DFL Constitution, Bylaws and Rules Committee to pull the endorsement from mayoral candidate Sen. Omar Fateh (Minneapolis), reported KSTP. 

This decision followed the July Minnesota DFL convention.

​Now, no candidate will be endorsed by the Minnesota or Minneapolis DFL Convention. Each candidate will receive voter data access, which is usually only granted to the endorsed candidate, according to WCCO.

​This comes after the endorsement was officially pulled, after several challenges were made against it. An investigation into the convention found around 200 unaccounted votes, a Ward 5 credential sheet missing and an unattended check-in sheet, reported The Minnesota Daily.

The Minneapolis DFL Convention, the group that oversaw this year’s DFL convention, appealed the decision in August. ​

Fateh’s campaign argued the decision was a way to disenfranchise the Minnesota caucus.

“Our campaign sees this for what it is: Disenfranchisement of thousands of Minneapolis caucus-goers and the delegates who represented all of us on convention day. The establishment is threatened by our message,” Graham Faulkner, the co-campaign manager for Omar Fateh, said.

​Groups like Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America, a volunteer socialist group, said on Bluesky that the move was appealing to the more establishment Democrats.

​“By capitulating to Frey and his campaign team, the DFL has chosen to align itself with the wealthy elites who think they own our city,” the group wrote in the post.

​On Monday, U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (DFL-Minn.) officially announced her endorsement of the democratic socialists.

​A spokesperson for Mayor Jacob Frey’s mayoral campaign said in a statement that the process for this year’s convention was flawed.  

​“The mayor is focused on doing his job, not on insider party politics. Senator Fateh’s campaign wants to exclude other candidates from access to DFL resources. Our campaign believes the voters deserve an even playing field for the candidates, and that no candidate should get a leg up through a deeply flawed and inaccurate process,” the spokesperson said in the statement.  

This year’s DFL convention and the subsequent investigation could lead to a possible rift between the establishment Democrats and Democrats who lean more to the left, according to University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs.

​“I think the number of left Democrats who would be offended is probably not huge, but it’s probably significant. And that’s a problem, in 2028, you’ve got Governor Walz and a DFL Senate candidate and legislative DFL candidates all trying to win races that would be close,” Jacobs said.

​Jacobs said candidates like Fateh and more left-wing mayoral candidates like Zohran Mamdani, who have received national attention, could indicate a shift in Democrat party voters.

​“I think it’s a sign that Democrats in New York and Minnesota, probably elsewhere, are frustrated with their national leaders,” Jacobs said. “They see them as weak, as indecisive, and they’re alarmed by that in the face of Donald Trump’s vigorous moves.” 

Minneapolis DFL Chair ​John Maraist, who argued against the DFL, said that they will accept the decision. ​He said the Democratic Party in Minnesota is broad and that while he does not agree with the decision to pull the endorsement, he said it was normal for the Democrats to have these types of debates.

​“It includes what’s traditionally called Blue Dog Democrats, who are more conservative in some cases, but who don’t feel comfortable with the Republican Party,” Maraist said. “Of course, we have to come together to endorse individual candidates, and discussion, debate and argument are how we do that.”​

The former Minneapolis DFL Chair Conrad Zbikowski said he hopes both the Minneapolis DFL and the Minnesota DFL will learn from the experience instead of focusing on coming together.

​“I think when we look towards next year, it’ll be up to all of us collectively together to say, how do we want to move forward?” Zbikowski said. “And be very forward-looking in how we approach things.”