Jacob Frey is an American attorney, former professional distance runner, and the current mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, first elected in 2017 and since reelected under the city’s newer “strong mayor” system. He is known for a focus on civil rights, housing, and police reform, and for taking high‑profile public positions during national debates over policing and immigration.

Who Jacob Frey Is

Jacob Frey is a Democratic politician who serves as mayor of Minneapolis, a role he assumed in January 2018 after winning the 2017 mayoral election and then winning reelection in 2021. Under the strong‑mayor structure approved by voters in 2021, he exercises direct authority over many key city departments, giving the office more executive power than it previously held.

Before becoming mayor, Frey represented Ward 3 on the Minneapolis City Council, taking office in 2014 after defeating an incumbent with a platform centered on development, small business growth, and affordable housing. His trajectory from council member to mayor positioned him as a relatively young, urban liberal leader with a profile that later drew national attention.

Early Life, Running, and Law

Frey grew up on the East Coast and became a standout long‑distance runner, eventually competing professionally and representing Team USA in the marathon at the 2007 Pan American Games, where he finished fourth with a personal best just over 2 hours and 16 minutes. After college, he continued to run major marathons around the United States before shifting his primary focus to law and public service.

He attended Villanova University School of Law, graduating cum laude and going on to practice employment discrimination and civil rights law at firms in Minneapolis after moving there in 2009. His legal work, including involvement in a post‑conviction death penalty case, helped solidify his interest in civil rights issues and public service.

Move to Minneapolis and Community Work

Frey decided to settle in Minneapolis after running the Twin Cities Marathon, an experience he has described as shaping his connection to the city and its neighborhoods. Once there, he became active in community organizing, especially around LGBTQ+ rights and housing issues.

In 2011 he helped launch the “Big Gay Race,” a 5K charity run that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for campaigns supporting marriage equality in Minnesota. For his civil‑rights‑focused community work, including advocacy for people experiencing homelessness and tenants displaced in North Minneapolis, he received Minneapolis’s first Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 2012.

Political Career and Mayoral Record

As a council member and later as mayor, Frey has consistently emphasized housing, voting access, and police reform. On the council, he chaired the Elections Committee and backed ordinances aimed at boosting voter registration and expanding early voting locations in Minneapolis ahead of the 2016 election, although one landlord‑notification measure was later struck down in federal court.

Elected mayor on a platform that promised more affordable housing and better police‑community relations, Frey took office just a few years before the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, an event that placed him at the center of global scrutiny. In the immediate aftermath, he supported a temporary restraining order limiting certain police tactics such as chokeholds and committed to structural reforms, while simultaneously resisting calls from some activists to fully dismantle the police department, arguing instead for deep reform with the existing institution.

Recent Actions and Public Profile

Frey’s profile has remained nationally visible, especially during conflicts with federal policy under the Trump administration and in debates about federal immigration enforcement. In late 2025, he signed an executive order blocking federal immigration agents from using city property as staging areas, and in early 2026 he publicly rejected a Department of Homeland Security characterization of an ICE shooting as self‑defense, using notably blunt language and telling agents to leave Minneapolis.

He has also continued to champion housing‑stability programs such as “Stable Homes Stable Schools,” a partnership among the city, schools, and other agencies that has provided housing assistance to thousands of children and families facing homelessness and was made permanent and expanded after a successful pilot. These moves have framed him as a leader who blends technocratic housing policy with outspoken rhetoric on civil rights and federal‑local conflicts, keeping him a recurring subject of political discussion and online forum debate into 2026.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.