February 20th, 2012 at 4:00AM

Run, Harry, Run

Harry Davis in Campaign Mode, 1971

On February 20, 1971, Harry Davis won the DFL endorsement in Minneapolis’s mayoral race, becoming the first black Minneapolitan to run for mayor under a major party banner. Davis eventually lost big to incumbent Charlie Stenvig in the general election. The fact that Stenvig—a confrontational former cop who played off voters’ fears about crime—could so easily dispatch a likeable bridge-builder like Davis says a lot about the city’s political atmosphere during the 1970s.

Photo from Changemaker: W. Harry Davis, edited by Lori Sturdevant

  1. mn70s posted this
3 notes #1970s#Minnesota#history#1971#politics#Minneapolis#Mpls#minorities
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