Hennepin County voters tonight will choose their next county attorney, one of the most influential legal officials in the state.
DFL State Rep. Cedrick Frazier and former federal prosecutor Anders Folk are vying to become the next Hennepin County Attorney, the top prosecutor in the most populous county in Minnesota. The winner will oversee a staff of more than 500 people and an annual budget of more than $92 million.
The office prosecutes felony-level adult criminal cases and all juvenile cases in the county, and also oversees several civil matters, including child support and child protection.
Here is where each candidate stands:
Cedrick Frazier
Frazier, a New Hope resident, worked as a Hennepin County public defender before being hired by Minneapolis Public Schools as its director of equity and diversity, where he investigated discrimination and employee harassment cases. He later joined the district’s general counsel office, where he responded to complaints and oversaw litigation for the district.
Frazier now works as a staff attorney for Education Minnesota, the state’s largest teachers union, where he has been for a decade. He began his political career with a 2018 victory in his bid for New Hope City Council and then as a state representative two years later.
Frazier told Sahan Journal the next county attorney should apply lessons learned in the past to move the office forward. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, he said he lost loved ones to gun violence and saw community members become entrapped in cycles of incarceration. He said that lived experience, as well as his professional experience, gives him “well-rounded perspective necessary to lead this office.”
He vows to prosecute violent crimes and to reduce threats to public safety. But he also plans to uphold workers’ rights, defend abortion access, safeguard the environment, protect immigrant communities from unjust prosecutions, and support survivors of domestic and sexual assault.
The state representative is endorsed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, DFL U.S. Senator Tina Smith, DFL U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and 29 state lawmakers, in addition to dozens of local officials. He also won the DFL endorsement for the Aug. 11 primary, though the primary was nonpartisan.
Anders Folk
After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Folk, a Minneapolis resident, began his law career by briefly working as a local prosecutor for then-Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar before being activated by the military in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. He worked as a criminal defense attorney in the Marine Corps and later served as a military prosecutor.
Folk then spent five years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, where he investigated and charged cases involving gangs, terrorism, organized crime, fraud and violent crimes. He went into private practice for nearly a decade but returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office after being appointed the acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Folk told Sahan Journal before the Aug. 11 primary that he joined the race because Hennepin County needs an experienced prosecutor with a “public safety-first mindset.” His platform is built on four priorities: creating a task force to investigate and prosecute federal agents for their conduct during Operation Metro Surge, focusing more on violent repeat offenders, using data for violence prevention and juvenile justice, and increasing collaboration with police, educators, elected officials and community members.
Folk is endorsed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, former U.S. Attorney Andy Luger and five Minneapolis City Council members, among other local officials.
Check back for updates tonight from Frazier’s and Folk’s watch parties.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Live election results will be updated approximately every 10 minutes throughout the evening.
