After the murder of George Floyd, police violence became an issue that no Minneapolis politician could avoid. The massive protests that followed sparked federal and state investigations and a bevy of major proposals that culminated in a failed referendum, in 2021, to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.

Today, police accountability has largely taken a backseat in electoral debates nationwide, and even in the city that sparked the 2020 protests, clashes between candidates have grown less outwardly contentious. The two leading candidates for mayor this fall were on opposite ends of that 2021 referendum but that has not defined their current contest. Mayor Jacob Frey, who wanted to preserve the MPD that year, is now claiming credit for championing reforms; meanwhile, Frey’s challenger Omar Fateh, who backed the 2021 measure, has emphasized other issues during his campaign this year.