BY CLINT COMBS
Brenda Short’s path to launching her mayoral campaign in Minneapolis has been shaped by both her past political involvement and current challenges.
In 2022, she was actively involved in Don Samuels’ congressional primary campaign against Ilhan Omar, canvassing and door-knocking for the former school board member. Samuels’ campaign was financed by billionaire Harlan Crow, who has funded conservative causes linked to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Furthermore, Samuels’ ties to the landlord and real estate industries — sectors that often come into conflict with progressive stances on housing — have put him at odds with organizations like the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose platform centers around tenants’ rights and housing justice.
Short’s campaign has also been marred by internal conflicts. In a recent interview with Minnesota Daily, she revealed that she had fired her campaign manager, Jake Amerca-Luna, after a series of blunders surrounding press releases and media outreach.
Brenda Short
“Another challenge was that I hired my campaign manager Jake, who will no longer be working on my team as of today,” Short explained. “I had a press release and I sent it to Jake, and all he had to do was forward it. I even gave him the emails to all the newspapers and all Fox 9, KARE 11 numbers. Jake sent in the press release and then I kept on asking him, ‘Jake, did you follow up? Did you hear anything back?’” Short noted that Amerca-Luna mishandled the details, sending incomplete information to Fox 9, which led to a missed opportunity for media coverage.
In addition to campaign drama, Short’s legal battle against Omar Fateh’s campaign, DSA, and Amerca-Luna over alleged violations of Minnesota’s Fair Campaign Practices Act also ended in epic failure (not to mention the multiple misspelled names that didn’t make the docket). Administrative Law Judge Jessica A. Palmer-Denig dismissed her complaint, ruling that the claims did not meet the necessary legal standards for proving a violation.
Despite the setbacks and her complicated political alliance to controversial figures like Samuels, Short remains committed to her goal of becoming Minneapolis’ next mayor.
