[citation needed] Van Lear did not win control of the city council, and Sheriff Otto Langum worked closely with the Minneapolis Citizens' Alliance, an anti-labor coalition of wealthy business magnates.

[citation needed] In office, Van Lear welcomed the People's Council of America for Democracy and the Terms of Peace to Minneapolis and refused to approve a law that would effectively ban the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

[citation needed] The only Socialist mayor in the city's history, Van Lear was defeated for re-election in 1918, amid accusations that he and his supporters secretly desired a German victory in World War I.

[2] He later helped to form a local section of the Nonpartisan League that firmly supported the policies of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson.

[citation needed] In 1919, Van Lear worked with Herbert Gaston to found the populist Minnesota Daily Star newspaper.