Betsy Hodges prepares to put vision, record to work
She’s a fan of NASCAR who wears Wonder Woman T-shirts beneath blazers, a progressive activist with a penchant for wading into messy political issues at City Hall, and a DFLer whose bid for mayor was opposed by the establishment of her party.
Betsy Hodges, the presumptive next mayor of Minneapolis, is a hard-nosed budget wonk driven by her concern for the less fortunate. She is sharp and witty in private, but careful and restrained in the public eye.
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Hodges’ apparent victory comes after a political career spent in the trenches of progressive fights. She cut her teeth in local politics in the late 1990s as an activist for Progressive Minnesota, now TakeAction Minnesota, working on education referendums and opposing stadium subsidies. She later worked as an aide to Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman — now a supporter — and as development director at a nonprofit.
