The 2026 race for Hennepin County Attorney pits former acting U.S. Attorney Anders Folk against state Representative Cedrick Frazier as voters weigh public safety strategies amid campus-area gun violence in Dinkytown.
The Bottom Line
- The Candidates: Anders Folk campaigns on aggressive prosecution of repeat offenders, backed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, while Cedrick Frazier focuses on systemic prevention and community relationships.
- The Local Context: University of Minnesota students living in Dinkytown report acute safety concerns following high-profile shootings, yet widespread voter apathy characterizes the local electorate.
- The Election Date: The decisive midterm vote takes place on November 3, 2026, determining leadership for the state’s largest prosecution office.
Halloween Night Violence Shakes Dinkytown
At 2:00 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2025, University of Minnesota student Ella Albrecht was dressed as Strawberry Shortcake when twenty automatic gunshots shattered the calm of her sixth-floor bedroom. As mndaily.com reported, she stepped onto her balcony to watch emergency responders perform CPR on a man sprawled across the sidewalk on 13th Avenue Southeast, a stretch she had walked home from Mesa Pizza just hours earlier. That fatal shooting set a grim backdrop for students navigating the Dinkytown neighborhood.
Gunfire returned to the same street corner nearly a year later, abruptly waking Albrecht’s roommate, Emersyn Lokken, at 2:00 a.m. to the sound of fresh gunfire. “That’s where his leg sat and the blood pooled,” Lokken told mndaily.com while pointing from their balcony toward the pavement. While the Minnesota Star Tribune noted that gunshot wounds tripled and aggravated assault cases rose 41% in the neighborhood between 2019 and 2024, Ward 2 has logged a 20% decline in shots-fired calls over the past two years alongside a 13% drop in car thefts. Statistics, however, do little to alter the visceral fear experienced by students living near the campus corridor.
Two Distinct Platforms Vie for the County Attorney Seat
The chief prosecutor of serious crime in Dinkytown is the Hennepin County Attorney, an elected official who sets prosecution standards and determines sentencing policies. Mary Moriarty’s departure leaves the office up for grabs between Anders Folk and Cedrick Frazier in the Nov. 3, 2026 midterm elections. Folk, the former acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota who signed the 2020 federal indictment charging Derek Chauvin with violating George Floyd’s civil rights, emphasizes balancing consequences with compassion for violent repeat offenders. Endorsed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, Folk launched his campaign on Oct. 17 with a focus on administrative speed.
Conversely, Cedrick Frazier approaches the office through a lens of systemic reform. Serving as the vice chair of the state legislature’s Public Safety committee and earning the endorsement of the Hennepin County Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Frazier argues for addressing the root causes of crime outside the courtroom. Frazier walked through the University’s Territorial Hall during an Oct. 26 doorknocking campaign to connect directly with student voters.
Student Apathy Persists Despite High Stakes
Despite the proximity of neighborhood violence, student engagement remains low. An informal survey conducted by mndaily.com revealed that only two out of twenty-six University of Minnesota students knew the Hennepin County Attorney’s race existed, with many planning to sit out the election. University law professor Francis Shen noted that students often bypass reporting crimes like car thefts due to a profound lack of faith in the system. Political science professor Dan Myers explained that nationalized political media coverage continually undermines the visibility of critical local races.
Folk intends to embed prosecutors directly into the University of Minnesota Police Department to expedite charging decisions, stating that delayed justice is denied justice.
