The $1 Million Council Race: How Ward 7 Became the City's Most Expensive Contest

The 2025 race for the Minneapolis City Council's Ward 7 seat was the most expensive council contest of the cycle, and by some accounts the costliest single-seat council race the city has seen. Challenger Elizabeth Shaffer, a Park and Recreation Board commissioner, raised $248,400 — more than any other council candidate — to one-term incumbent Katie Cashman's $119,400.

Outside groups added more. The centrist political committee All of Mpls, which also backed Mayor Jacob Frey, spent about $92,000 supporting Shaffer and $7,600 against Cashman, while Minneapolis for the Many spent about $23,300 supporting Cashman, according to campaign-finance filings reported by Axios and Southwest Voices.

The money followed the stakes. Ward 7 stretches from Lowry Hill and the Wedge through Kenwood, East Isles, Cedar-Isles-Dean and Bryn Mawr into Loring Park, Stevens Square and the downtown core, mixing wealthy homeowners with dense renter blocks. That made it genuinely competitive rather than safely aligned with either camp, and the seat was widely seen as the one most likely to tip the balance between the council's progressive bloc and Frey. Cashman, who took office in January 2024, had been a reliable vote for the council majority that overrode Frey's veto to pass the 2025 budget; Shaffer ran as a counterweight and won the DFL endorsement over the incumbent.

Shaffer won on Nov. 4, 2025, with 6,709 first-choice votes (52.1%) to Cashman's 5,909, a margin of about 800 votes.

For residents, the spending meant a campaign — mailers, digital ads and door-knocking — at a volume more typical of a mayoral race, and it framed much of the messaging around citywide power rather than local concerns like Hennepin Avenue, property taxes and development. Campaign-finance reports for municipal races are public record, filed with the city and viewable at vote.minneapolismn.gov.