Decision leaves an opening in Ward 8 in 2017
Ward 8 City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden announced Monday she will not seek re-election in 2017.
Glidden was first elected to the council in 2005 and is currently serving her third term. No other candidates have publicly announced a run for her ward, which straddles Interstate 35W and covers parts of South and Southwest Minneapolis.
Glidden said she’d been weighing the decision for some time and finally decided she had “done her part on the City Council and it’s time for someone else to have a chance.”
“I feel like I’m really proud of some things that I’ve been able to work on, and I have a good list of things that are still ahead of me,” she said. “One of the things that gives me confidence is I feel like there are people who are politically and locally engaged in the 8th Ward who can see an opportunity to step up and get involved in local politics”
Glidden revealed her decision in a post to her Facebook page. It read, in part:
“After much consideration, I have decided it is time for someone new to have the opportunity of representing the Eighth Ward on the Minneapolis City Council; I will not be seeking election to a fourth term.
“I have always felt that local politics is dynamic, a place where creative change is possible. I know that there will be healthy competition for the 8th Ward seat and am confident that we will see candidates commit to continue and expand on the progressive policy work I’ve been fortunate to help lead at City Hall for more than a decade.
“In the coming year, I’m devoting myself to important work in progress, including voting on a city minimum wage, defending Minneapolis as a sanctuary city, expanding civil rights protections to Section 8 renters, and organizing city leaders in Minneapolis and across the US around progressive policy issues.”
Glidden was an attorney practicing employment and civil rights law prior to entering office. In 2013, she won a two-year Bush Foundation fellowship that she used to pursue an interest in promoting racial equity.
