Crikey, people, he’s a Fed – and a Republican
Anders Folk is unfit to be Hennepin County Attorney
(For another great take on the Hennepin County Attorney’s race, see Rod Adams’ terrific article in the Racket: Don’t Fall for the Folk-Tales.)
The general election contest for Hennepin County Attorney pits two candidates who contested for the DFL endorsement at the Hennepin County DFL convention: Cedrick Frazier, who won the endorsement on the first ballot, and Anders Folk. Frazier went on to win the August non-partisan primary by 30,000 votes over second place finisher Folk. As the one-two finishers, they face off in the general election.
They are about as different as two candidates can be. Cedrick Frazier’s resume includes serving as a public defender, a member of the New Hope city council, as a three-term member of the Minnesota House, and as a labor attorney representing educators.
Folk is notable for serving as an assistant United States attorney in two Republican administrations: George W. Bush and Trump I. In the latter, he applied for and was considered for the top United States Attorney job but wound up as the maid-of-honor first assistant. Presently, he is a partner in the union-busting law firm Jones Day, called by many “Donald Trump’s favorite law firm.”
Folk has campaigned with Republican Andrew Myers (Dist. 45A). He’s also been endorsed by the West Metro GOP.
It was a bit disingenuous for Folk to have contested for the DFL endorsement, don’t you think?
Folk touts his one-note Johnny prosecutor experience as making him the more fit for the job. He neglects to mention that the job of Hennepin County Attorney is far more than just prosecutor. Here is a breakdown of the office staffing for the 2026 office budget proposal for the HCAO:
The budget proposal gives FTEs (full-time equivalents) for all staff, not just lawyers. The 2026 proposal totals 521.6 FTEs: Criminal 173.8, Children & Families 156.9, Civil & Administration 87.0, Community Affairs & Engagement 63.0, Administration 22.0, and Professional Standards 19.0.
There are approximately 225 lawyers in the office. As you can see, about a third of the office is dedicated to criminal prosecution. There are many line prosecutors who do the actual prosecuting. The County Attorney rarely appears in court, and it’s usually grandstanding when they do, as we could expect if we elect Anders Folk.
The County Attorney is the general counsel for the Hennepin County Board; a super majority of its members have, incidentally, endorsed Cedrick Frazier. Several labors unions have, too. Folk, unsurprisingly, has no union endorsement, except maybe the cops, but I’m not even sure about that.
Anders Folk is running a vainglorious and messianic campaign of law and order, so let’s examine that.
Two of the first three murders in Hennepin County this year (Renee Good and Alex Pretti) were committed by federal law enforcement: ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (the latter had no business being in Hennepin County in the first place, but we’ll ignore that for the moment). Those murders are being investigated by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The Trump administration, including the local United States Attorney’s office and FBI have stonewalled that investigation, including recent reaffirmation of the stonewall. Cedrick Frazier had made it clear, both on his website and in remarks, that he’d be aggressive against federal law enforcement wrongdoers.
When Folk is asked about the issue, all he can talk about is how complicated it is. In point of fact, the HCAO has already charged two federal law enforcement officers with assault: Christian Castro for shooting a bystander in North Minneapolis, and Gregory Donnell Morgan, Jr. for brandishing a pistol at a couple of female motorists on the Crosstown.
So, it’s not that damn complicated, Anders. I’d rather have a County Attorney whose heart was in protecting the county’s citizens from a rapacious federal government.
Anders Folk is not that guy.
In a recent commentary, discussing the attorney general race, the Minnesota Reformer’s Patrick Coolican said that the first consideration was picking the candidate who would best protect the state from that rapacious federal government, and he found Republican candidate Ron Schutz wanting. “Why would we hire a Trump supporter?” Coolican asks. The question lands with even greater force against the two-time Republican assistant United States attorney.
Why, indeed, would we do that?
And it’s not as though the United States Attorney’s office, from whence Anders Folk came, has been exactly stand-up in matters of civil rights and immigration.
https://left.mn/2026/01/joe-thompson-discovers-there-is-some-shit-he-will-not-eat/
Raise your hand if you think Anders Folk would take it to his former colleagues in the United States Attorney’s office or FBI for failure to cooperate in an investigation? Or charge them with obstruction of justice under Minnesota law?
That’s what I thought.
Unless you are these people, who undoubtedly don’t worry about being taken down on a Minneapolis street corner, or having their car rammed and windows broken out by ICE, the clear choice for Hennepin County attorney is Cedrick Frazier.
Anders Folk supporters
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