DULUTH — Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, the first woman to lead the 152-year-old port city, announced her bid for re-election in front of Lake Superior and more than a dozen supporters in Canal Park Tuesday, with biting pre-storm winds whipping across the water.
"Standing outside in the cold, even in this wind, it feels really appropriate," she said. "Because the last four years have changed us."
Citing the pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the economy and "loud" political times, she said it's not an easy time to lead, and she said she doesn't take asking for a third term lightly.
"This is an incredibly hard and important time in our community's pandemic recovery; who leads the city and how they lead it matters," she said.
Larson, a former City Council member and social worker, was first elected in 2015, following two terms by Don Ness. She won easily then and in 2019. In her first term, she led the passage of a sales tax increase to help fix Duluth's pothole-filled streets, and more recently, worked to create a trust fund to alleviate the city's ongoing housing crisis.
She's prioritized fortification of the city against extreme storms and revitalizing the once-flagging city-owned Spirit Mountain and Duluth's downtown.
She's also faced backlash for the city's response to a 2019 blizzard, for strict citywide mask mandates during the pandemic and a controversial change in the handler of Duluth's tourism promotion efforts.
On Tuesday, she said her goals for a third term include pandemic recovery that prioritizes housing, child care, economic development and site redevelopment, internet access and climate work.
