Jason Chavez
2022 - Present
2026
2
Jason Chavez is a member of the Minneapolis City Council in Minnesota, representing Ward 9. He assumed office on January 3, 2022. His current term ends on January 5, 2026.
Chavez (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Minneapolis City Council to represent Ward 9 in Minnesota. He won in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Elections in Minneapolis are officially nonpartisan, but the Minneapolis City Charter allows mayoral and city council candidates to choose a party label to appear below their name on the official ballot. Ballotpedia includes candidates' party or principle to best reflect what voters will see on their ballot.[1]
Biography
Jason Chavez was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chavez's professional experience includes working as a legislative aide at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He earned a degree from the College of St. Scholastica in 2018.[2]
Elections
2023
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2023)
General election
General election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 9
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jason Chavez in round 1 .
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Total votes: 4,316 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Endorsements
2021
See also: City elections in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021)
General election
General election for Minneapolis City Council Ward 9
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jason Chavez in round 1 .
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Total votes: 6,666 |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jason Chavez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Jason Chavez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Chavez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is Jason Chavez (he/him), I’m the DFL-DSA-Labor endorsed candidate for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9. I was born and raised in the 9th ward; I grew up in Southside Minneapolis, as the son of working-class Mexican immigrants who worked three jobs each just to keep food on the table. I am a proud LGTBQ+ Latino, renter, community organizer, and policy worker at the Minnesota House of Representatives. Since becoming the first in my family to graduate from college, I have worked to support and defend my community in Ward 9.
Through my work as a Legislative Aide at the State Capitol and community organizer, I have fought alongside our community to reshape our broken criminal justice system, brought $80 Million dollars in COVID relief funding for our small businesses, implemented protections for essential workers and renters, and have fought for immigration justice.
I’m running for City Council to fight for the Ward that helped raise me. I know better days are possible. And I’m ready to lead alongside my community to help create the future we deserve.
I am running for City Council to uplift and unleash the power of community advocacy. The 9th Ward is one of the poorest, most diverse, overpolluted, and underfunded communities in the city. There is remarkable capacity in Ward 9, and I’m running to help secure the resources this community needs and deserves. Our campaign works the same way I’ll work in City Hall: community-led, and community-centered.
There is a housing crisis in Minneapolis, and I am committed to implementing ordinances to address the issue and increase access and affordability. I will always keep the interests of renters, tenants, and our unhoused neighbors at heart — and I will fight for policies that do the same.
- I believe our solutions to city problems should focus on prevention and care. Whether it’s homelessness, health care, policing, potholes, or anywhere in between, my approach focuses on how to prevent the issue from continuing, and on how to provide immediate and long-term support to the people and communities who have already been affected by the issue.
Stopping gentrification and displacement in its tracks is front of mind for me in thinking about the future of development in our City. The 9th Ward is home to working-class people and families that have made their home here for generations. It is a part of our city where naturally occurring affordable housing can be found and the Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities can thrive if they are supported and protected. Development without displacement is possible, it requires engagement with the community, local businesses, and making key changes to zoning policy that will protect the locally owned businesses in the 9th Ward’s cultural corridors. New development should be built to meet the growing need for affordable housing that exists in Ward 9. There is already so much support for developers and it is not my job to be their champion, it is my job to be a champion for the everyday people I have lived with my whole life.
Whenever I am faced with a policy decision, I first spend time checking whether those investments are made with community backing and uphold our broader values of equity and accessibility. I believe the city ought to require environmental impact and community equity reports before making decisions on or granting approval for public infrastructure projects. Additionally, I will form local community advisory committees to ensure our city integrates feedback from community members, especially from Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, elderly, disabled, and unhoused community members who have historically been left behind or negatively affected by inequitable infrastructure investments. I believe in the importance of accessible, affordable, sustainable public infrastructure projects; whether we are reconstructing an old site or approving new plans, I will always be sure to integrate community input and evidence-based policies as I make my decisions.
We have a lot of work to do to improve the state of our city’s environmental health, but many of our city’s current goals are a good start to those improvements. I believe the city’s 2040 Plan contains goals that are both appropriate and attainable to boost our environmental health, but we have to do the work to make sure we actually attain them.
Ward 9 is the most polluted district in Minneapolis, and I know from first-hand experience what it’s like to deal with toxic chemicals, eat produce grown in contaminated soil, and watch your friends and family get sick because of government inaction. The Ward 9 community — and every community in Minneapolis — deserves a City Council committed to environmental justice. I am disappointed with the Council’s decision to vote against the East Phillips Urban Farm proposal, as I think it goes against the values of protecting environmental health and justice. Nevertheless, I will pursue the passage of ordinances and funds that will support community-led environmental health efforts.
As a long-time Southside resident and former member of the Southside Green Zone Council in Minneapolis, I understand how important it is to institute stronger policies and develop broader incentives to decrease emissions. We need to lower the rates of cancer, asthma, and lead poisoning in our city. It’s also vitally important to ensure our city’s energy and maintenance facilities aren't harming nearby communities, especially considering the communities most often impacted by these pollutants are predominantly low-income, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and immigrant; I will make sure proposals brought before the City Council are accompanied by an environmental health impact report so we do not approve harmful projects.
The ballot question on the formation of the Minneapolis Department of Public Safety — an initiative supported by thousands of Minneapolis residents, including myself — is an opportunity for us to take a significant step forward in protecting our communities and preventing crime. As we move towards a safer, stronger, more equitable Minneapolis, we have to address the ways in which police have inflicted community harm, while also recognizing there will be a role for police in this new Department.
Our current system is not working. Our city can create a more holistic and community-centered system of public safety rather than continuing to inject millions of dollars into an unaccountable police-focused model. I believe police will remain a part of this system, but the number of officers and the situations in which they are deployed will depend on community input, budget analysis, and audits of public safety needs that can be more effectively met by non-police public safety workers. There are instances where our city is relying on police when we do not need to be; whether it’s minor traffic violation stops or non-emergency distress calls, we do not need to be putting community members or police officers at risk by dispatching armed police, especially when we could instead be utilizing more efficient and effective measures.
Many of the reforms and policy improvements our communities have advocated for are dependent on the creation of the new Department of Public Safety, and whether or not this ballot measure passes, I believe we ought to pursue tangible changes to our public safety structure to protect our communities and prevent community- or police-caused harm.
My vision for public safety in Minneapolis is one which centers the needs, input, and well-being of our community members. I am focused on implementing policies and investing in programs that protect our communities, advance equity, and provide the basic needs to address the root causes of crime rather than violently reacting to crime after it occurs. We must shift away from a police-only model, where crime and safety crises are responded to rather than prevented. I will work to implement a more holistic vision for public safety, designed to protect and enhance the lives of our residents.
I will introduce and/or support community safety initiatives, strengthen accountability systems, and improve our 9-1-1 emergency system by creating more efficient, effective, and culturally sensitive response options — including mental health emergency responders. Throughout the budget processes during my first term, I will fight to make sure our city invests in historically underfunded non-police-centered public safety alternatives, including fully funding and expanding the Community Safety Specialist (CSS) Program. I’ll collaborate with city officials, local leaders, and emergency service administrators to help give proper resources to first responders who can most effectively respond to crime and de-escalate emergencies, like EMT’s, firefighters, mental health workers, social workers, and domestic violence responders.
I will call for the declaration of a gun violence epidemic and public health crisis in Minneapolis to open up funding options to better support victims and families of gun violence. As a City Council Member, I will harness our city’s budgeting powers to increase funding for mental health resources to address rising rates of suicide and youth crises in our neighborhood.
Everybody deserves to feel safe in their communities, and I will remain steadfastly committed to improving our public safety systems throughout my time in City Hall.
As a young, LGBTQ+ Latino, and formerly unhoused person, politics isn’t just theoretical for me. The issues affecting our city affect me too, and the pressing problems in our communities are personal to me. I am deeply passionate about addressing the inequities in our city, from housing disparities to environmental injustices to a broken public safety system. I was approached by my community to run for City Council to fight for underserved and immigrant communities, and that is what I intend to do in City Hall. As someone who grew up in an underserved community and has spent years in policy work at the State Capitol, I feel passionate about virtually every policy issue affecting this community. I know the personal side of politics here in Minneapolis, and I am devoted to taking substantive policy actions to improve our lives.
A City council member represents people at the most accessible level of government. It is the role of the City Council member to build trust in government, within the community, and overall help facilitates bridging any gaps in trust that exist. In addition to this, City Council members are representing a handful of neighborhoods so they can be close to the ground and deliver responsive constituent services — it is their job to pick up the phone or call back when a constituent reaches out. The City Council Member also must lead in the spirit of encouraging civic engagement; local government works best when community members are empowered to co-govern with their elected leaders. Finally, it is the role of the City Council member to work passionately and ardently on unglamorous issues like well-shoveled sidewalks, safe street design, and providing basic/necessary city services equitably.
I grew up in a community scarred by policy failures. I grew up in a community which had been left behind. I remember swearing to myself that nobody should have to live like this. I know I am not the only one to have felt this way. I know there are many who feel this way right now. And I know it doesn’t have to be this way. I know what it feels like to think the system has abandoned you. Yet, in spite of our city’s systemic shortcomings, I also know what things can be like when the government has your back and your representatives have your best interests at heart.
To solve any given issue, we have to address the broader issue of trust. Throughout my time in public service and this campaign, I’ve often come face-to-face with people who’ve lost faith in our government.
As I think about the kind of legacy I want to leave behind after my time in City Council, I hope it’s that I was able to deliver on providing the communities of the 9th Ward with the support, funds, and resources they deserve. I hope I can show that there are good people in government who have your back. I’m running for City Council because I believe that our city government can be part of the solution, even if it hasn’t always been that way in the past.
I can’t promise that we’ll agree on absolutely everything, or that we can magically fix all our issues instantaneously, but I can promise you that I will always have our community at the forefront. I’m running because I believe in a government that is community-led and community-centered. That’s how I will serve our city, and that is the legacy I hope to leave.
When I was thirteen years old, my parents and I were evicted from our house and forced into homelessness. Living as a displaced teenager, I picked up a job to help make ends meet for my family; I worked at a community soccer league in the 9th Ward making tacos and selling snacks. For four years (from 13 to 17), I spent my evenings and weekends talking to community members and handling concessions.
I love a lot of books, but my favorite is probably Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America. It’s a collection of stories from and about people fleeing their homes and countries, in pursuit of a better life. They cross borders only to find more struggles in the United States. It reminds me of the story of my parents, and so many stories in the 9th Ward where many people escape bad situations and hope to make a better life in our neighborhoods. It reminds me of the story of my family and community members fighting to stay afloat while coming to Minneapolis, and it serves as a reminder for how important it is to support our immigrant neighbors with policies and programs.
A role that the City Council member plays that is often overlooked is being the people’s most effective lobbyist at the different levels of government. City Council members represent the street-level, block-by-block needs of people. They are your most accessible representative (or at least they should be), and as a result, they can use their perspective and power to lobby for key community needs like funding transportation, schools, and supporting the essential workers that serve the community each day. They can call to attention the inequities in the community and push the park board, the transit authority, the state legislature, and congressional delegations to take action. Our city needs its council members to step up at the intergovernmental level to solve the day-to-day issues we see in our neighborhoods.
Honestly, it can go either way! I think communities are best served when their representatives are members of those communities and are committed to earnestly serving their interests. Just because a candidate has held office before doesn’t automatically mean they adhere to that standard. At the same time, some of the strongest community advocates in history didn’t boast any experience in elected office or government.
Regardless, I do absolutely think it is important for holders of this office to understand what politics means to the people they serve. I think “experience” in politics extends beyond the political office. Living the effects of public policy decisions — for better or worse — is a fundamental component of what politics is. We need leaders and representatives who know what is at stake with the impacts of the decisions they make.
I have a background in government, as a community member, and as a political worker. Through my time as a legislative aide, grassroots organizer, and as the former President of the Minnesota Youth DFL, I have previous experience in working with government officials and addressing political needs.
I know what it’s like to live the effects of governmental decisions, and I know what it takes to change governmental decisions for the better.
Above all else, I think the most important skill necessary for success in City Council is a deep understanding and love for the communities in the 9th Ward. Of course, I think it’s critical for city council members to comprehend complex policy proposals and understand the political process, but the capacity to think about policies is far less valuable if you do not understand how they will impact the people you serve. I grew up in Ward 9. This community is my home, and there is nothing I would not do to support it. I have lived and learned the vast and various dynamics at play in these neighborhoods, and I believe that perspective is invaluable for a council member.
I come to this candidacy with the community knowledge AND the policy knowledge to be an effective advocate for Ward 9, plus the empathy and humility to seek out input from members of the community. This is not new for me: I have lived these struggles and I have fought these fights before. I am no stranger to advocating for the folks in the 9th Ward, and I will continue to do so as their City Council Member.
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Campaign website
- Click here to view an archived version of Chavez's campaign website.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
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Officeholder Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services, "FAQ: Can I list a political party affiliation or principle?", accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2021
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Alondra Cano |
Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 2022-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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