Katie Jones (politician)
Katie Jones | |
|---|---|
| Member-elect of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 61A district | |
| Assuming office January 14, 2025 | |
| Succeeding | Frank Hornstein |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c.1988 (age 35–36)[1] Indiana |
| Political party | Democratic (DFL) |
| Residence(s) | Lowry Hill East, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Education | BS in engineering, Purdue University |
| Occupation | |
Katie Jones is an American politician and engineer who is the member-elect of the Minnesota House of Representatives for district 61A in Minneapolis, succeeding Frank Hornstein. Jones is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. She will be sworn in on January 14, 2025.[2]
Early career
[edit]Katie Jones grew up in rural Indiana and received a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Purdue University.[3] She moved to Minnesota to work with Habitat for Humanity in Rochester before relocating to Minneapolis.[4]
Prior to beginning her political career, she worked as a lobbyist and policy writer with the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) and did work in the Sustainability Office with the City of Minneapolis.[5] She was also a member and president of the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association,[1] served on the City of Minneapolis Capital and Long-Range Improvement Committee,[6] and was appointed to Governor Tim Walz's Sustainable Transportation Advisory Council.[7]
In 2021, Jones ran a campaign to represent Ward 10 (representing Whittier, South Uptown and the Wedge) in the Minneapolis City Council.[1] She was eliminated at third place in the third round of ranked-choice voting behind Aisha Chughtai and Alicia Gibson after receiving 19.57% of first-round votes.[8] In the following years, Jones returned to the Capital Long Range Improvement Committee and continued her work with the Center for Energy and Environment.[9]
Minnesota House of Representatives
[edit]In February 2024, Representative Frank Hornstein announced he would not run for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives after 22 years of service representing district 61A, which includes Loring Park and much of the Bde Maka Ska-Isles area.[10][11] Jones launched a campaign for the seat on March 6, 2024,[12] emerging in a crowded field of DFL candidates for the strongly Democratic district. The district DFL caucus failed to endorse a candidate,[13] and three candidates filed and appeared on the DFL primary ballot: Isabel Rolfes, a legislative staffer for House Majority Leader Jamie Long; Will Stancil, a researcher at the University of Minnesota and online persona; and Katie Jones.[14]
Stancil's online presence drew unusual attention to the primary, including a series of online threats to Jones from right-wing extremists.[14][15] Having worked on climate policy in the district, Jones positioned herself as a successor to Rep. Hornstein, who focused much of his policy on climate and chaired the Transportation Committee.[16] She secured Hornstein's endorsement shortly before the primary election.[17] Jones won the DFL nomination with 43.15% of the vote,[9] winning a plurality in all but one of the district's precincts.[18]
In the general election, no Republican candidates filed. Jones instead faced Green Party candidate Toya Lopez.[19] In the general election on November 5, 2024, Katie Jones was elected to represent District 61A with 83.92% of the vote.[20]
Electoral history
[edit]| Party | Candidate | % 1st Choice |
Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | % Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Aisha Chughtai | 36.91% | 3,934 | 4,163 | 5,360 | 59.95% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Alicia Gibson | 18.75% | 1,999 | 3,022 | 3,581 | 40.05% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Katie Jones | 19.57% | 2,086 | 2,476 | |||
| Democratic (DFL) | Chris Parsons | 15.10% | 1,610 | ||||
| Democratic (DFL) | David Wheeler | 5.86% | 625 | ||||
| Democratic (DFL) | Ubah Nur | 3.51% | 374 | ||||
| Write-in | N/A | 0.29% | 31 | ||||
| Exhausted ballots | 998 | 1,718 | 19.21% | ||||
| Valid votes | 10,659 | ||||||
| Threshold | 5,330 | ||||||
| Undervotes | 686 | ||||||
| Turnout | 48.7% | 11,345 | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Katie Jones | 3,956 | 43.15 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Will Stancil | 3,340 | 36.43 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Isabel Rolfes | 1,872 | 20.42 | |
| Total votes | 9,168 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Katie Jones | 18,234 | 83.92 | |
| Green | Toya López | 3,284 | 15.11 | |
| Write-in | 209 | 0.96 | ||
| Total votes | 21,727 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic (DFL) hold | ||||
Personal life
[edit]Jones lives in the Wedge neighborhood of Minneapolis with her husband Peter.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Gustavo, Solomon (January 6, 2021). "Meet the Minneapolis City Council candidate: Katie Jones". MinnPost. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "2025 Legislative Dates". Minnesota Governmental Relations Council. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ "Katie Jones". Center for Energy and the Environment. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Hoffman, Melody (August 6, 2024). "Five questions with House of Reps 61A candidate Katie Jones". Southwest Voices. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ Bornhoft, William (October 26, 2021). "Patch Candidate Profile: Katie Jones For Minneapolis Council". Patch. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ "Jones, Katie". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ Bocklund, Katelyn (March 1, 2021). "Sustainable Transportation Advisory Council Releases Recommendations for Minnesota". Great Plains Institute. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Minneapolis, City of (November 2, 2021). "2021 City Council Ward 10 election results". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ a b McVan, Madison (August 13, 2024). "Results in key Minnesota House and Senate races". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "PollFinder: Legislative District 61A" (PDF). Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ^ "Release: Rep. Frank Hornstein announces he will not run for re-election to the Minnesota House". Minnesota House of Representatives. December 6, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "Campaign Kickoff". Katie for MN 61A. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ "No endorsement for 61A". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ a b Albertson-Grove, Josie (August 9, 2024). "Internet celebrity colors one state House primary in Minneapolis". Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ Coolican, J. Patrick (March 1, 2024). "What are the Nazis doing in a south Minneapolis legislative race?". Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ Griffith, Michelle (August 2, 2024). "In Minneapolis House DFL race, candidates knock doors while Twitter looms". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ Griffith, Michelle (August 9, 2024). "Race for Minneapolis House seat heats up in final weekend before DFL primary election". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ a b "State Representative District 61A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "State House: District 61A". MPR News. 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 Results for All State Representative Races". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved December 6, 2024.