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AJ Awed
AJ Awed (Democratic Party) ran for election for Mayor of Minneapolis in Minnesota. He lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Awed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections in Minneapolis are officially nonpartisan, but the Minneapolis City Charter allows mayoral and city council candidates to choose a party label to appear below their name on the official ballot. Ballotpedia includes candidates' party or principle to best reflect what voters will see on their ballot.[1]
Biography
AJ Awed earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 2016 and a J.D. from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2019. His career experience includes working as a mediator at the Hennepin County District Court, a co-executive director at Cedar-Riverside Community Council, and a board member at Community Mediation & Restorative Services.[2]
Elections
2021
See also: Mayoral election in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021)
General election
General election for Mayor of Minneapolis
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jacob Frey in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 143,974 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
2020
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2020)
General election
General election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 6
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jamal Osman in round 4 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 7,746 |
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Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
AJ Awed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Awed's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Public Safety and Policing: We need a new public ‘safety for all’ model in Minneapolis. Every city must look after all of its people and businesses – and safeguard all with dignity and equality.
- Housing For All: Housing should be viewed as a fundamental human right, not a commodity that some cannot access or afford. Every city must house every one of its residents and visitors properly. I believe everyone in Minneapolis deserves a space to call ‘home’.
- Neighborhood (Re)Engagement: As we begin to reopen Minneapolis, we must ask ourselves what our new normal should look like – and explore the important role for neighborhoods and community organizations in our city’s future.
The City of Minneapolis has been allocated a total of $271 million of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) - $102 million of which has already been allocated but not distributed, obligated, or spent. There are already funds for us to help businesses - but not necessarily agreement. The Mayor would like to allocate $119 million for "revenue replacement" for the 2022 budget to offset the $129 million in revenue decline for the city in 2020. And who knows what the City Council will do.
But we need to engage our small businesses directly and bring them together so we can listen to what they say will help. I've had some of my most energized conversations with small businesses leaders in the city - as I ask them how things are going for them. It's a struggle for so many restaurants and small shops in the skyways and all over the city.
We must continue our ambitious goals as a city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with an emphasis on protecting those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis but are most impacted by it - our BIPOC, immigrant, and low-income communities.
For decades, the city’s urban planning decisions have sacrificed the health of residents in the name of industry and economic profit, resulting in disproportionately high rates of asthma, cancer, birth defects, and cardiovascular disease.
We must take swift action to reverse the health inequities that have come as a result of these policy decisions - and do our part to stop the global climate crisis. I will commit the city to charting a new course using ‘Green New Deal’ approaches. I will implement ‘zero waste’ strategies, invest in storm-water infrastructure, and plant more trees throughout our neighborhoods - and along our streets.
None of the other candidates are offering what I am offering right now. The other two candidates are against funding the police and against the YESTOMinneapolis charter but have little in motion for what they would do to replace it. The mayor has had the time to work on solutions, he’s had the opportunity to re-engage with the city and councils that oversee the wards around Minneapolis. I do not disagree with the calls for the MPD to be replaced with something new, rather I disagree with the replacing of it that does not include some form of armed officers; some not all. We still want to keep people safe and there are vital services that need to be preserved and stay the same while expanding and strengthening others. The government has a fundamental right to preserve and provide safety and to protect its citizens.
During my candidacy, I would like to establish a Citizens Assembly to bring the people of Minneapolis together to recommend a new model of public safety and have their voices heard. In order to create change where everyone can feel comfortable, we need a transparent and open process, not one decided by the elite behind closed doors.
Law enforcement in Minneapolis must be founded in a comprehensive public safety approach - not a public health approach - and it must offer a form of law enforcement with policing services carried out by armed, licensed peace officers. The current Patrol and Investigations Bureaus services must carry on - and actively recruited and properly funded for a city our size.
Unarmed “koban” officers would be more able to respond to minor emergencies, give directions, and otherwise interact with residents on a more intimate basis than would be the case for police services in Minneapolis – and could be responsible for homelessness, addiction, mental health, and neighborhood safety response.
Our public safety model must include Victim and Survivor services (to promote safety, healing, and justice for victims and survivors of crime by meeting their individualized needs, upholding victims’ rights, and enhancing community responses to harm); Violence Prevention services (using community-focused, public health approaches to help ensure that everyone can be free from violence to break the cycle of violence by preventing it before it begins; intervening at the first sign of risk, and championing healing after it happens).
I decided to run because for too long it has been felt that we (as a community, as a city, and as a people) )have been given broken promises by a leadership that has failed to uphold their campaign platforms, failed to provide safety, and failed to hold themselves accountable. This was not the ‘Fresh Start’ we were all promised. I want to be the mayor who leads, who brings the city and our communities together. Our city needs a strong mayor who will lead us forward and bring us the change we have been looking for - and the ‘Fresh Start’ we deserve.
I believe it is past time for the Mayor to have the power to act with independence on behalf of all the voters throughout the city that elected them. I believe the mayor must be able to appoint (and dismiss) department heads without council approval (or interference). I believe the Mayor's office must be able to supervise - and truly gets to lead an executive branch - where department heads report to and coordinate city department priorities through the Mayor’s office - and not the various personalities and priorities of the City Council and their unelected staff.
I believe the Mayor and their team must continue to prepare and administer a comprehensive city budget - one that serves every part of the city equally and without favor so that EVERY part of the city is an amazing place to live, work, or visit.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.
Campaign website
AJ Awed's campaign website stated the following.
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HOUSING FOR ALL“Every city must house every one of its residents and visitors properly. I believe everyone in Minneapolis deserves a space to call ‘home’. The city can – and must – do more.” Housing should be viewed as a fundamental human right, not a commodity that some cannot access or afford. There are more renters than homeowners in the city – and right now one of the most pressing needs facing everyone in Minneapolis is housing. The need for affordable and stable housing is intensifying as the city continues to grow. Addressing the affordability issue will require bold policies – and funding – capable of ensuring affordable, neighborhood housing for all. The city must lead and support actions and efforts that provide for more public housing, rent control, unique developments, and special supports for post-pandemic needs. WE MUST INCREASE AND IMPROVE HOUSING OPPORTUNTIES IN MINNEAPOLIS. From ‘tiny home’ villages to town homes and public housing communities to neighborhood homes – the city must ensure everyone has the opportunity to find a space to call ‘home’ in Minneapolis. Not only because it is the ‘right’ thing to do – but because it is a fundamental responsibility of the modern city to ensure everyone is properly accommodated. We cannot ‘criminalize’ homelessness. Nor can we have a city that has unhoused people living on the streets or along highways. We cannot allow people to live in public transportation or parks. It is not right and it is not dignified. These are signs of failed government leadership and must not be allowed to continue. Ensuring everyone has a ‘home’ must be addressed as aggressively as the recent pandemic – with a since of urgency and compassion and dignity. Our residents deserve better. We must have a city that is building the amount and kinds of housing necessary to minimize or even prevent these issues from arising – and as Mayor, AJ Awed will take action. AJ believes housing is a fundamental human right, and not a commodity. But he knows how housing is currently developed and he knows it will take creative thinking and private – and government partners – to meet the housing needs of everyone in Minneapolis. We must take bolder steps to solves these issues – and we must recommit our city to addressing them directly by advocating for new taxing authority and funding for these efforts. We cannot rely on US Government pandemic funds alone – the City of Minneapolis must be given new taxing authority so that funding for these efforts are sustainable to meet them. Housing Opportunities in Minneapolis Currently, rent increases outpace wage increases – leaving many families struggling to afford groceries, clothes, school supplies, medical emergencies, and more. Right now, the most pressing need facing Minneapolis is affordable housing. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic, but with workers unemployed, the need for affordable and stable housing is only intensifying as the city grows. Addressing the affordability crisis will require bold policies capable of ensuring affordable housing for all. Together we must lay the foundation and funding for future housing stability, we need to refocus city policy to protect current occupants, repair public housing, and build new affordable housing. Rent Control and Stabilization AJ believes we must curb high rent increases for landlords who own 5 or more properties – tying increases to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers. The City of Minneapolis must not allow large rent increases to displace families and long-time residents from living in their neighborhoods. As your Mayor, AJ will continue to work alongside Minneapolis tenants and housing advocates to implement a universal Rent Control ordinance that will work for everyone in Minneapolis. Universal rent control or stabilization ordinances that are properly funded and implemented in Minneapolis would allow us to:
Protecting and Expanding Public Housing With an average ‘blue collar’ worker making $33,762 – and many making much less – the only really true affordable housing option for these residents is public housing. While the majority of the city’s affordable housing initiatives target households earning $50,000-$60,000 a year, there are very few options outside of public housing that address the needs of those earning $30,000 and below. Public housing is not only attainable for low-income residents, but it guarantees affordability by capping rental payments to 30% of the tenant’s actual monthly income, thereby ensuring residents are not cost-burdened. Unfortunately, in recent years, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, with the support of City Council, has moved forward with privatization plans for the Elliot Twins high-rises, as well as the privatization of all single-family “scattered site” homes throughout Minneapolis. Turning over ownership to the same private investors and developers who created our current housing crisis will not solve our affordability issues. In fact, it will likely lead to further displacement for our most vulnerable residents. In a ‘Better Minneapolis’, our public housing and housing options will be a source of pride for our city – and a place of comfort, safety, and stability for all who call the city ‘home’ or just to visit. AS MAYOR, AJ AWED WILL ...
STRONG WORKERS + BUSINESSES“I will be a champion for neighborhood workers, businesses, and entrepreneurs – and ensure they are valued, respected, and have fair opportunities to compete against monopolistic corporations and elites.” Small business is the driving force of our city’s commerce. AJ will work hard to push for policies that support small businesses, encourage entrepreneurship, and promote innovation. AJ has worked in small businesses in Minneapolis – and he knows that these businesses and their workers are the source of most of the jobs and activity in every neighborhood in the city. Its more important than ever that commit to getting the city’s workers back on their feet and small businesses reopened. Entrepreneurship and creativity are at the heart of every neighborhood in the city and make them unique – and we must oppose gentrification or displacement without comprehensive consultation and support from neighborhoods and marginalized communities. LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS NEED TO BE SAVED AND SUPPORTE Minneapolis is home to hundreds of small businesses, many owned and operated by immigrants and people of color. These small businesses are essential to the fabric of our city and our cultural identities. Prior to COVID-19, small businesses were already experiencing the pressure of gentrification and rising commercial rents; however, with the economic impact of COVID-19, they are now even more vulnerable to displacement. We must provide more support for small businesses to survive, grow, and thrive. AS MAYOR, AJ AWED WILL ...
Champion low interest loans and other forms of support for neighborhood-based small businesses and entrepreneurs GREEN CITY FUTURE + INITIATIVES“The issue of climate change is one that our city simply cannot afford to ignore. We all must commit to chart a new course using ‘Green New Deal’ approaches before we condemn future generations to suffer from our lack of commitment and action.” The greatest environmental challenge facing Minneapolis is climate change. AJ will act on climate change. His admiration will focus on continuing to move the city’s climate action planning forward. To maximize the opportunities in the city to use clean, renewable energy. We must implement land-use and transportation policies that reduce emissions, encourage transit usage, and fosters the use of zero emission vehicles. And we must not stop there. We must implement ‘zero waste’ strategies, invest in storm-water infrastructure, and plant more trees through out our neighborhoods and along our streets. WE MUST DO OUR PART AS A CITY TO REDUCE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. We must continue our ambitious goals as a community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Minneapolis with an emphasis on protecting those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis but are most impacted by it—our BIPOC, immigrant, and low-income communities. For decades, the City of Minneapolis’ urban planning decisions have sacrificed the health of residents in the name of industry and economic profit, resulting in disproportionately high rates of asthma, cancer, birth defects, and cardiovascular disease. We must take swift action to reverse the health inequities that have come as result of these racist and classist policy decisions and do our part as a city to stop the global climate crisis. 'We can have a ‘Greener City’ Climate change’s local impacts must be reversed. Our city will support ‘Green New Deal’ initiatives. Together we will radically address local climate change impacts and lead to a more equitable economy with increased employment and widespread financial security for all – and greener streets and neighborhoods. AS MAYOR, AJ AWED WILL ...
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2020
AJ Awed did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Minneapolis, "Common questions about filing for office," accessed September 10, 2025
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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