There will be no recount in Minneapolis' highest-profile and closest election this year.
Soren Stevenson, the candidate who came within 38 votes of ousting Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins, has conceded and is not pursuing a recount, Stevenson said Thursday.
"Andrea Jenkins' election was historic in 2017 and she continues to be a strong figure for representation in Minneapolis," Stevenson said in a social media post Thursday afternoon. "I called her to congratulate her on her victory. I wish her the best in her next term and hope she is successful in representing our values."
Unofficial results show the margin between Jenkins and Stevenson inside 0.5% — close enough that Stevenson could have requested a recount and it would be granted and paid for by public funds. There are no automatic recounts in Minnesota races between candidates.
The Jenkins-Stevenson race was closely watched as a proxy for how far left Minneapolis voters — or least those in the Eighth Ward — had moved.
Jenkins, a Black transgender woman who has prioritized police reform and civil rights, found herself on the defensive against criticism from progressives that she hadn't accomplished enough fast enough on those same issues. Stevenson, who is white, wrested the city Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsement from Jenkins over the summer, sending shockwaves through Minneapolis' comparatively moderate Democrats.
The result was a substantial effort, in spending and shoe leather, to support Jenkins by groups aligned with Mayor Jacob Frey.
Meanwhile, Stevenson had the backing of more progressive groups that spent far less money but can claim an energized base.
