A text message sent by Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chair Richard Carlbom, following the Minneapolis convention in July that briefly endorsed state Sen. Omar Fateh for mayor, has become a point of contention inside the party, with members questioning if top officials sought to intervene on behalf of incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey (D).
Shortly after Minneapolis DFL delegates endorsed Fateh at the July convention, Carlbom texted Michael Abramson, who oversaw the arrangements committee, saying he was “sad that this convention ended the way it did.” The message, disclosed Wednesday by Axios, is drawing scrutiny as the state party continues to face internal fallout over revoking Fateh’s endorsement in August.
Fateh supporters viewed Carlbom’s message as reinforcing doubts about whether or not state leaders were siding with Frey after his loss at the convention. Those doubts have become central to the dispute that broke out following the DFL Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee’s (CBRC) decision to revoke Fateh’s endorsement, citing problems with the electronic vote count.
Carlbom told Axios his remarks were not about favoring any candidate but reflected procedural issues. “These were honest mistakes and … there was no misconduct by anyone involved,” he said in a written statement.
The CBRC determined there were “substantial failures” in the Minneapolis convention’s voting process, including an acknowledgment that a mayoral candidate had been erroneously eliminated from contention. Carlbom explained that the review confirmed verified voting errors and concluded the endorsement could not stand.
In his text to Abramson, Carlbom added, “You may be happy, but the result is in question, and the party will investigate the actions of this body.” He also forwarded a screenshot of the DFL’s rules requiring paper ballots in contested endorsements.
Abramson told Axios he viewed Carlbom’s message as echoing “one of Frey’s talking points that day.” Fateh allies have asked how Carlbom could know an investigation was warranted before any formal challenge was filed. Carlbom was not present for the final hours of the convention. However, by the time he sent his text, reports of a ballot undercount had already been circulating among delegates for hours.
The Minneapolis DFL has since been placed on probation, deepening frustration among local organizers who argue the state party failed to support them before the convention, including with resources for electronic voting. “We’ve asked for help, and we’ve been told to kick rocks,” Abramson noted.
Fateh, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and the first Somali American and Muslim elected to the Minnesota Senate, launched his mayoral campaign in July with a platform centered on raising the city’s minimum wage to $20 per hour by 2028, expanding non-police emergency response teams, and lobbying for a local income tax on high earners. He has also backed taxpayer-funded college tuition for undocumented immigrants and pledged to cut ties between the Minneapolis Police Department and federal immigration authorities.
During his political career, Fateh returned campaign donations tied to the “Feeding Our Future” fraud investigation and faced fallout after a volunteer was convicted in a voter fraud case. He also drew attention in 2023 for calling Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) a “white supremacist” for opposing free college tuition for illegal aliens and describing U.S. policing as “systemically white supremacist.”
After the CBRC revoked his endorsement, Fateh accused the party of “insider games” and vowed to continue his campaign, framing the decision as disenfranchisement of “thousands of Minneapolis caucus-goers.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and other Democratic officials issued a joint statement condemning the reversal, warning it “sets an extremely dangerous precedent” and undermines grassroots participation.
In his own statement, Carlbom called the situation “sad” and expressed support for volunteers, caucus-goers, rules committee members, and campaigns. “I especially feel for every volunteer who was part of this process … and the campaigns, who have had to spend time talking about the convention when they would rather spend 100% of their time talking to voters about their candidate’s vision for Minneapolis.”
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