Contenders for Ward 7

On Nov. 4, 2025, voters in Minneapolis will elect city council members for all 13 wards, three at-large park board commissioners, six district park board commissioners, two members of the board of estimate and taxation (BET) and one mayor.
Even though the official candidate filing period doesn’t start until July 29, many candidates are already at work setting up websites, making phone calls and knocking on doors.
The Minneapolis Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party will hold precinct caucuses on April 8 to select delegates to attend ward conventions in late April and May, and a city convention July 19-20 where the endorsements for mayor, park board, and BET will be considered.
The Minneapolis Republican Party held a city-wide convention on March 8 but so far no candidates seeking Republican party endorsement are running.
So far, four candidates are running to be the Ward 7 city council member for the next four-year term. All of them are seeking the DFL party endorsement that will be determined at the Ward 7 convention on May 10.

WHO THEY ARE
Two of the candidates, incumbent Katie Cashman and District 4 Park Commissioner Elizabeth Shaffer, will be familiar to many Ward 7 voters because they already hold elected office. Two others, Paula Chesley and Corey Ryan Vest, are new to campaigning for electoral office.
Chesley, who plans to stay in the race until November regardless of the DFL endorsement, calls herself a “lifelong Democrat,” and said that she has volunteered for campaigns going back to 2008. “I believe this race is made up of solely Democrats,” she said, “so if no other candidates continue after one candidate gets the DFL endorsement, it doesn’t give the voters much of a choice.”
In 2020, she bought a home close to Hennepin Ave. S. and credits her work on the East Isles Neighborhood Association Board among the experiences that have most helped prepare her to be a council member. She has earned a PhD, worked as a professor and researcher in the past, and now is a yoga and meditation teacher in a mental health clinic.
Chesley has been a block captain, organized for National Night Out, and helped form the East Isles Safety Walking Club. She was instrumental getting part of the Park Board’s nudity ordinance that discriminated against women repealed in 2020.
Vest rents an apartment on The Mall near the corner of Lagoon and Hennepin Aves where he has lived for 20 years. He is a volunteer DFL party official at the state senate district and 5th congressional district levels, and serves on DFL state central committee. He is seeking the party endorsement and said that he “leans toward abiding” with the party’s endorsement and plans to announce his intention before the ward convention.
A freelance database consultant for the past 20 years, Vest grew up in St. Louis and Chicago and graduated from Carlton College in Northfield, Minn. before coming to Minneapolis. He credits his father with helping prepare him for work as a council member.
“Every single day I become more grateful for how my father raised me,” he said. “He was born in Detroit, left school in the ninth grade and worked his way through the ranks of national direct marketing.” Vest fondly recalls time he spent in printing plants and warehouses, as well as desktop publishing, sales, and other offices in Chicago and St. Louis that helped shape who he is today.
Current area park commissioner Shaffer has lived in Lowry Hill for 13 years, and in Phillips and the Wedge prior to that. She lives with her husband Steve and has four adult children.
She said that “if the DFL endorses another candidate, I will continue to run and be on the ballot this November.”
Her three years representing ward 7 residents on the park board, she believes, has helped prepare her to become a council member. “I have become a trusted leader willing to listen and advocate for residents and promote pragmatic action over talk,” she said. “I have helped reset the park board into a functioning, collaborative body focused on what’s best for our parks and park users. I will bring this same foundation of strong relationships and authentic voice to the council.”
Incumbent Ward 7 Council Member Cashman grew up in Minneapolis and lives in the Steven’s Square-Loring Heights neighborhood. She holds degrees in geography and urban planning. Prior to being elected in 2023, she worked as a project manager at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.
Cashman chairs the city’s Climate and Infrastructure committee and cites her experience there making “meaningful improvements to our city’s infrastructure, to address our housing crisis, build crime prevention strategies and to make Minneapolis a climate friendly city,” as well as her work with “colleagues on the council and the mayor where possible to deliver resources for the people of Ward 7 and Minneapolis,” as experiences that have helped qualify her for a second term.
She is endorsed by Attorney General Keith Ellison and other Democratic elected officials including Sen Scott Dibble, Rep. Jamie Long, and Rep. Esther Agbaje. When asked about running if the DFL endorses another candidate Cashman said, “I’m running with the DFL party and am confident I’ll be endorsed.”

WHAT THEY PRIORITIZE
All the candidates except Vest have websites that outline many shared priorities. Housing, commercial revitalization and environment appear in a variety of forms, but public safety appears to be consistently listed at the top.
On her website, Shaffer prioritizes maintaining “safe, functional public spaces and systems,” She said, “We must support our police, with the recruitment and training of new hires and investigators as our top priority.”
Shaffer also prioritizes having the city be a friendly place for businesses, entrepreneurs and workers; fiscal responsibility; environmental well-being, green spaces and parks; and “cross-ward relationships and dialog.”
“I will make it a top priority to ensure our Minneapolis Police Department is fully supported through effective recruitment efforts and fair compensation,” said Chesley, “while also insisting on accountability measures that rebuild trust with the community.”
Chesley also prioritizes the need to “revitalize our commercial corridors, particularly in Uptown and Downtown, create more affordable housing, and ensure our city government is truly accountable to its residents.”
Vest was clear when interviewed that he thinks more and better policing is needed. He considers himself a “little more traditional” than Cashman when it comes to policing while also supporting reform that he sees as a long-term process.
According to Cashman’s website, “My number one priority is to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors in Minneapolis.” She added that she will work “to bolster the complementary and alternative public safety workforce to free up police capacity for cases of violent crime,” and “supports expanding hiring pathways to help MPD meet the minimum staffing number in the city charter.”
Cashman includes ensuring the safety of city neighborhoods, addressing housing affordability, providing excellent constituent services, revitalizing commercial corridors; supporting workers, investing in climate solutions, improving transit accessibility and committing to zero waste in her list of priorities.

HOW THEY DECIDE
A city council member is expected make hundreds of city budget and policy decisions every month, some with significant and long-term consequences.
When asked about his decision-making process, Vest said, “I believe in a circular process: skepticism, investigation, storytelling, and reform.” He said that it is important to “question authority and remember power tends to corrupt,” and that he tries to “always be curious and ask unusual questions” as well as share what he learns with others in a way that “brings them along on a mutual journey.” He also tries to “beware of unintended consequences” and to “never be afraid to adjust course.”
Chesley said that her academic background will help her make decisions. “I have a PhD and am into data and research,” she said. “This means looking up how other cities have done things – was it effective? Where were the shortcomings? How could we do better? And, also looking at original data.” She said that she will also “pro-actively seek out feedback as opposed to listening to just the folks who are already engaged.”
“My decision-making starts with understanding and representing the community perspective,” said Shaffer. “Where there is diversity of opinion, I will work to understand all perspectives and clearly articulate back to community members why I voted as I did. Within difficult decisions, my priorities would include the long-range health of Minneapolis and its livability for residents, improved public safety and increased development within our city.”
“I am a values-based leader,” said Cashman. “I value courage, compassion and effectiveness. It’s important for me to center those most impacted and their autonomy and voice in decision making. I also balance present and future needs to make sure the decision is serving long term goals and is not merely a short-term band aid solution.”
“As steel sharpens steel,” said Vest, “I hope my fellow candidates and I will emerge on the other side of this election, win or lose, as stronger neighbors and better friends who can work together long into the future.”