Jacob Lawrence Frey (/fraɪ/ ⓘ FRY;[1] born July 23, 1981) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota since 2018.

After law school, Frey moved to Minneapolis to work as an employment discrimination and civil rights lawyer.

[4] Frey grew up in Oakton, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. His parents were both professional modern ballet dancers; his mother is of Russian-Jewish ancestry, and his father converted to Judaism.

[11][12] Frey also pursued a Juris Doctor at the Villanova University School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2009 and giving the student address at commencement.

After a tornado struck North Minneapolis in 2011, Frey provided legal services to tenants who lost their homes.

In late 2011, Frey ran in a special election for an open state senate seat and came in fifth in the party primary.

[24] Frey's platform promised better constituent services,[24] to spur residential development,[24] increase the number and variety of small and local businesses, and push for full funding of affordable housing and address climate change.

As a City Council member, Frey focused on affordable housing, environmental policy, workplace regulations, and voting access.

[30] As chair of the council's Elections Committee, Frey led the effort to pass an ordinance requiring landlords to provide tenants with voter registration information.

[38] But Frey has faced protests from community groups for increases to the police department budget and the lack of significant investment in community-led safety alternatives.

[45][46] According to Slate, the plan would "permit three-family homes in the city's residential neighborhoods, abolish parking minimums for all new construction, and allow high-density buildings along transit corridors.

"[47] Slate wrote that by implementing the plan, "Minneapolis will become the first major U.S. city to end single-family home zoning, a policy that has done as much as any to entrench segregation, high housing costs, and sprawl as the American urban paradigm over the past century.

[49][50] On May 21, 2020, Frey signed an order requiring people over the age of 2 to wear a mask covering over their nose and mouth while at "indoor spaces of public accommodation.

"[51] On July 29, he issued an emergency order declaring that all Minneapolis indoor bars, which had recently reopened, would close effective August 1.

"[53] The next day, Frey called for criminal charges to be filed against Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck, saying, "We cannot turn a blind eye.

With thousands in attendance, protesters asked Frey, who was wearing a black facemask with the words "I can't breathe" on it, whether he would commit to defunding the Minneapolis Police Department.

The statement received heavy criticism from people across the country including many who called on Frey to fire his communications staff.

Clarke is a lobbyist for Hylden Advocacy & Law, where she represents several business, nonprofits, and community organizations at the Minnesota legislature and executive branch agencies.