Elizabeth Shaffer Takes Ward 7 Seat, Bringing Lowry Hill a New Voice at City Hall

Elizabeth Shaffer was sworn in as the Ward 7 member of the Minneapolis City Council on Jan. 5, 2026, taking a seat that covers Lowry Hill, the Wedge (Lowry Hill East), East Isles, Cedar-Isles-Dean, Bryn Mawr, Kenwood, Downtown West, Loring Park and Stevens Square. She defeated one-term incumbent Katie Cashman in the Nov. 4, 2025 municipal election.

Shaffer, who served on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board before running, cast Cashman as too far to the left for a comparatively moderate ward, while Cashman pointed to a two-year record she described as straddling the council's factions. Shaffer was backed by the Frey-aligned political committees All of Minneapolis and We Love Minneapolis; Cashman was endorsed by the more progressive Minneapolis for the Many.

It was the most expensive single council race of the cycle. Shaffer raised $248,378 to Cashman's $119,438, more than doubling the incumbent's fundraising.

Cashman, who took office Jan. 1, 2024, became a rare Minneapolis incumbent to lose after a single term. Despite the Ward 7 flip, progressives held onto a working majority, with seven of them winning seats on the 13-member council, though the bloc lost the veto-proof supermajority it had used to override Mayor Jacob Frey.

For residents, the practical change is straightforward. Constituent casework now routes through Shaffer's office, from a pothole on Mount Curve Avenue to a zoning question near Hennepin Avenue. The ward also has a heavy stake in the rebuilt Hennepin Avenue and the coming METRO E Line, the city's housing and zoning rules under the 2040 Plan, and a budget that pushed the 2026 property tax levy up 7.8%.

The Ward 7 office handles casework and posts ward updates; residents can reach it through the city's 311 service, by dialing 311 or 612-673-3000, or through the council member's page on minneapolismn.gov. Council committee meetings and the full council's Thursday sessions are open to the public, and neighborhood associations, including LHENA in the Wedge and the Kenwood, East Isles, Bryn Mawr and Cedar-Isles-Dean groups, remain a reliable way to put a local issue in front of the new member before a vote.