Jacob Lawrence Frey<\/b>[<\/span>a]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0(born July 23, 1981) is an\u00a0American politician<\/a>\u00a0and attorney who has served since 2018 as the 48th\u00a0mayor of Minneapolis<\/a>. A member of the\u00a0Minnesota Democratic\u2013Farmer\u2013Labor Party<\/a>, he served on the\u00a0Minneapolis City Council<\/a>\u00a0from 2014 to 2018 and was elected mayor of Minneapolis\u00a0in 2017<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0reelected in 2021<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02025<\/a>.[<\/span>2]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>3]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>4]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>5]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Born and raised in\u00a0Northern Virginia<\/a>, Frey attended the\u00a0College of William & Mary<\/a>\u00a0on a\u00a0track and field<\/a>\u00a0scholarship. He later attended law school at\u00a0Villanova University<\/a>.<\/p>\n Frey was a distance runner in college and ran professionally, ranking in prominent races and receiving an athletic endorsement. After law school, he moved to\u00a0Minneapolis<\/a>, where he worked as an\u00a0employment discrimination<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0civil rights<\/a>\u00a0lawyer before entering politics.<\/p>\n Frey was born in\u00a0Arlington County, Virginia<\/a>,[<\/span>6]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0to a Jewish family. He grew up in nearby\u00a0Oakton, Virginia<\/a>, a suburb of\u00a0Washington, D.C.<\/a>, where his parents, Christopher and Jamie (n\u00e9e Goldstein)[<\/span>7]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Frey[<\/span>8]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0were professional modern ballet dancers. His mother is of\u00a0Ashkenazi Jewish<\/a>\u00a0ancestry, and his father\u00a0converted to Judaism<\/a>.[<\/span>9]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>10]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Frey attended the\u00a0College of William and Mary<\/a>\u00a0after graduating from high school, receiving a\u00a0Bachelor of Arts<\/a>\u00a0degree in 2004.[<\/span>11]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>12]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0While attending, he was a distance runner on the track and field team and all-Colonial Athletic Association<\/a>\u00a0(CAA) cross-country runner. He competed at the\u00a02002 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships<\/a>.[<\/span>13]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>14]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Frey won the 2002 CAA 5,000-meter title in track.[<\/span>14]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n After graduating from college, Frey received a contract from a shoe company to run professionally. He ran in several marathons across the country and competed for\u00a0Team USA<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a02007 Pan American Games<\/a>\u00a0marathon,\u00a0finishing in fourth place<\/a>\u00a0and with his\u00a0personal best<\/a>\u00a0marathon time of 2:16:44.[<\/span>15]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>16]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>17]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Frey moved to Minneapolis in 2009 after graduating\u00a0cum laude<\/a><\/i>\u00a0from the\u00a0Villanova University School of Law<\/a>\u00a0and joined the law firm\u00a0Faegre & Benson<\/a>\u00a0to practice employment discrimination and civil rights law before moving on to the law firm Halunen & Associates.[<\/span>18]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>19]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>20]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>21]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Frey gave his graduating class’s commencement speech.[<\/span>11]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n In late 2011, Frey ran in a special election for an open state senate seat and came in fifth in the party primary, ahead only of someone who had dropped out of the race.[<\/span>22]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n In 2012, Frey founded and organized the first Big Gay Race, a 5K charity race to raise money for Minnesotans United for All Families, a political group organizing for\u00a0marriage equality<\/a>.[<\/span>23]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Frey ran in the\u00a02013 Minneapolis City Council election<\/a>\u00a0to represent Ward 3. He received the\u00a0Democratic\u2013Farmer\u2013Labor<\/a>\u00a0endorsement, as well as endorsements from more than 40 elected officials and organizations.[<\/span>24]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0His platform promised better constituent services,[<\/span>24]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0to spur residential development,[<\/span>24]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0increase the number and variety of small and local businesses, push for full funding of affordable housing, and address\u00a0climate change<\/a>. He defeated incumbent Diane Hofstede with more than 60% of the vote and took office on January 2, 2014. He served one term on the\u00a0Minneapolis City Council<\/a>\u00a0before becoming mayor.<\/p>\nEarly life and education<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Career<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/1\/1d\/Minneapolis_Mayor_Jacob_Frey_-_Inauguration_%2825728749038%29.jpg\/250px-Minneapolis_Mayor_Jacob_Frey_-_Inauguration_%2825728749038%29.jpg\")
<\/a>