Jason Chavez
2022 - Present
2026
3
Jason Chavez is a member of the Minneapolis City Council in Minnesota, representing Ward 9. He assumed office on January 3, 2022. His current term ends on January 5, 2026.
Chavez (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Minneapolis City Council to represent Ward 9 in Minnesota. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
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
Jason Chavez was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chavez's professional experience includes working as a legislative aide at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He earned a degree from the College of St. Scholastica in 2018.[2]
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2025)
General election
The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.
General election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 9
Incumbent Jason Chavez and Daniel Orban are running in the general election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
![]() | Jason Chavez (D) | |
Daniel Orban (Unaffiliated) |
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Endorsements
Chavez received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2023
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2023)
General election
General election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 9
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jason Chavez in round 1 .
Total votes: 4,316 |
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Endorsements
Chavez received the following endorsements.
2021
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021)
General election
General election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 9
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jason Chavez in round 1 .
Total votes: 6,666 |
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Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2023
Jason Chavez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Jason Chavez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Chavez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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|My name is Jason Chavez (he/him), I’m the DFL-DSA-Labor endorsed candidate for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9. I was born and raised in the 9th ward; I grew up in Southside Minneapolis, as the son of working-class Mexican immigrants who worked three jobs each just to keep food on the table. I am a proud LGTBQ+ Latino, renter, community organizer, and policy worker at the Minnesota House of Representatives. Since becoming the first in my family to graduate from college, I have worked to support and defend my community in Ward 9.
Through my work as a Legislative Aide at the State Capitol and community organizer, I have fought alongside our community to reshape our broken criminal justice system, brought $80 Million dollars in COVID relief funding for our small businesses, implemented protections for essential workers and renters, and have fought for immigration justice.
I’m running for City Council to fight for the Ward that helped raise me. I know better days are possible. And I’m ready to lead alongside my community to help create the future we deserve.
I am running for City Council to uplift and unleash the power of community advocacy. The 9th Ward is one of the poorest, most diverse, overpolluted, and underfunded communities in the city. There is remarkable capacity in Ward 9, and I’m running to help secure the resources this community needs and deserves. Our campaign works the same way I’ll work in City Hall: community-led, and community-centered.
There is a housing crisis in Minneapolis, and I am committed to implementing ordinances to address the issue and increase access and affordability. I will always keep the interests of renters, tenants, and our unhoused neighbors at heart — and I will fight for policies that do the same.
- I believe our solutions to city problems should focus on prevention and care. Whether it’s homelessness, health care, policing, potholes, or anywhere in between, my approach focuses on how to prevent the issue from continuing, and on how to provide immediate and long-term support to the people and communities who have already been affected by the issue.
Ward 9 is the most polluted district in Minneapolis, and I know from first-hand experience what it’s like to deal with toxic chemicals, eat produce grown in contaminated soil, and watch your friends and family get sick because of government inaction. The Ward 9 community — and every community in Minneapolis — deserves a City Council committed to environmental justice. I am disappointed with the Council’s decision to vote against the East Phillips Urban Farm proposal, as I think it goes against the values of protecting environmental health and justice. Nevertheless, I will pursue the passage of ordinances and funds that will support community-led environmental health efforts.
Our current system is not working. Our city can create a more holistic and community-centered system of public safety rather than continuing to inject millions of dollars into an unaccountable police-focused model. I believe police will remain a part of this system, but the number of officers and the situations in which they are deployed will depend on community input, budget analysis, and audits of public safety needs that can be more effectively met by non-police public safety workers. There are instances where our city is relying on police when we do not need to be; whether it’s minor traffic violation stops or non-emergency distress calls, we do not need to be putting community members or police officers at risk by dispatching armed police, especially when we could instead be utilizing more efficient and effective measures.
I will introduce and/or support community safety initiatives, strengthen accountability systems, and improve our 9-1-1 emergency system by creating more efficient, effective, and culturally sensitive response options — including mental health emergency responders. Throughout the budget processes during my first term, I will fight to make sure our city invests in historically underfunded non-police-centered public safety alternatives, including fully funding and expanding the Community Safety Specialist (CSS) Program. I’ll collaborate with city officials, local leaders, and emergency service administrators to help give proper resources to first responders who can most effectively respond to crime and de-escalate emergencies, like EMT’s, firefighters, mental health workers, social workers, and domestic violence responders.
I will call for the declaration of a gun violence epidemic and public health crisis in Minneapolis to open up funding options to better support victims and families of gun violence. As a City Council Member, I will harness our city’s budgeting powers to increase funding for mental health resources to address rising rates of suicide and youth crises in our neighborhood.
To solve any given issue, we have to address the broader issue of trust. Throughout my time in public service and this campaign, I’ve often come face-to-face with people who’ve lost faith in our government.
As I think about the kind of legacy I want to leave behind after my time in City Council, I hope it’s that I was able to deliver on providing the communities of the 9th Ward with the support, funds, and resources they deserve. I hope I can show that there are good people in government who have your back. I’m running for City Council because I believe that our city government can be part of the solution, even if it hasn’t always been that way in the past.
Regardless, I do absolutely think it is important for holders of this office to understand what politics means to the people they serve. I think “experience” in politics extends beyond the political office. Living the effects of public policy decisions — for better or worse — is a fundamental component of what politics is. We need leaders and representatives who know what is at stake with the impacts of the decisions they make.
I have a background in government, as a community member, and as a political worker. Through my time as a legislative aide, grassroots organizer, and as the former President of the Minnesota Youth DFL, I have previous experience in working with government officials and addressing political needs.
I come to this candidacy with the community knowledge AND the policy knowledge to be an effective advocate for Ward 9, plus the empathy and humility to seek out input from members of the community. This is not new for me: I have lived these struggles and I have fought these fights before. I am no stranger to advocating for the folks in the 9th Ward, and I will continue to do so as their City Council Member.
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Campaign website
- Click here to view an archived version of Chavez's campaign website.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Candidate Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 |
Officeholder Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 |
Personal |
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
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Alondra Cano |
Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 2022-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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