DFL Rep. Cedrick Frazier grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the Inglewood neighborhood, where he saw violence caused by the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. He moved to Minnesota in 1997 to attend the University of Minnesota-Morris in central Minnesota, moved to Mankato for graduate school at Minnesota State University, then attended the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul.
Frazier worked as a public defender in Hennepin County under then-Chief Public Defender Mary Moriarty, who now serves as Hennepin County attorney. He was then hired by Minneapolis Public Schools as its director of equity and diversity, where he investigated employment harassment and discrimination cases. He joined the district's general counsel office, where he oversaw litigation for the entire district and responded to complaints.
He now works as a staff attorney for Education Minnesota, the state teachers’ union, where he’s been for 10 years.
Frazier was elected to the New Hope City Council in 2018, and as a state representative two years later. At the Legislature, Frazier served as vice chair of the Public Safety and Judiciary Committees, where he spearheaded several pieces of legislation that included voting rights expansion and investments in violence prevention, which both passed.
Frazier won the DFL endorsement earlier this month for the county attorney race. He is also endorsed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Lieutenant Governor and U.S. Senate hopeful Peggy Flanagan, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and 22 of his colleagues in the Legislature, as well as several local officials.
Sahan Journal asked the county attorney candidates several questions about why they’re running for the office, and their priorities for the post. Read Frazier’s responses in his own words below.
Why are you running for Hennepin County attorney?
As the only DFL & Labor endorsed candidate in this race, I believe the decision before us this year is not simply about who holds the office of county attorney — it’s about whether we move forward, applying the lessons we’ve learned from the past, or regress to the old failed approaches that do not deliver the safety or fairness our communities deserve.
I grew up in a low-income neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago — a place very different from my home in New Hope, where my wife and I raise our daughters today. The community I grew up in faced gang violence, drug trafficking, and a legal system that too often failed the very people it claimed to serve. I lost loved ones to gun violence and watched neighbors become trapped in cycles of incarceration.
My lived experience, combined with my professional legal experience as a public defender in Hennepin County, legal counsel for Minneapolis Public Schools, and now a labor attorney at Education Minnesota, as well as my elected experience as a suburban city councilmember and state legislator, gives me the well-rounded perspective necessary to lead this office.
We are witnessing [President] Donald Trump destroy public trust in our legal system, using it for personal and political gain while eroding accountability at the highest levels. This is not public safety — it is federal overreach with deadly consequences. As the next county attorney, I will prosecute Trump’s federal agents who have violated Minnesota law.
The next Hennepin County attorney must prosecute violent crime to protect victims and reduce threats to public safety. But true public safety requires more than prosecution alone. My administration will also uphold workers’ rights, defend abortion access, and safeguard our environment. We will support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and we will protect immigrant communities from unjust deportations.
We can build a legal system in Hennepin County that protects our communities, strengthens public trust, listens to those most impacted by crime, and ensures the rule of law is applied fairly to everyone. This will require strong, visionary, and steady political leadership from the Hennepin County attorney. That is precisely the leadership that I offer.
What are your priorities for the county attorney's office?
Voters deserve a county attorney who understands what is at stake in this moment. Donald Trump is attacking our democratic institutions and is destroying the rule of law.
I am the only candidate in this race endorsed by the Minnesota DFL and the only candidate endorsed by labor unions. I have earned more endorsements from suburban mayors than all of my opponents combined. I am also the only candidate endorsed by [Hennepin] County commissioners, who I will work alongside to pass a $90+ million annual budget for the office.
These endorsements reflect a broad coalition united around a shared set of values.
Those values mean that no one is above the law, whether on the corner of the block or in the corner office. They mean treating wage theft as the serious crime it is, investing in proven violence prevention strategies, centering victims and survivors, and standing up to unlawful actions by ICE.
If we treat the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office as “business as usual, ” we miss the opportunity — and the responsibility — to use this office to protect communities, defend rights, and respond to threats against our democracy.
Minnesotans are ready for a path forward where nobody is above the law, and nobody is beneath the protections of the law. My priorities as the next county attorney include:
- Building trust through transparency
- Centering victims and survivors
- Combating wage theft and fraud
- Confronting fentanyl and expanding pathways to recovery
- Defending democracy
- Disrupting gun violence with urgency and precision
- Ending cycles of domestic violence
- Ensuring youth accountability
- Strengthening integrity and ethical governance
- Partnering effectively with local law enforcement agencies
- Protecting immigrant communities from unjust deportations
- Reviewing wrongful convictions
- Safeguarding access to abortion and reproductive healthcare
- Standing up to Trump
- Supporting ambitious climate action, affordable housing, and health care access
- Improving transit safety
- Uniting against hate crimes and political violence
Please visit https://www.cedrickfrazier.org/priorities to learn more and offer your feedback.
What do you plan to do differently from your predecessor?
What really differentiates me from my predecessor and all of my opponents in this race is that I did not first learn about victims of crime from news stories, an academic textbook, or a case file on my desk. I grew up in a community impacted by gang violence and drug trafficking. I know what it is like to lose loved ones to gun violence.
My predecessor and I share a similar commitment to building a more equitable legal system. But how we get there matters. My leadership has been, and will be, defined by collaboration, accountability, and a clear focus on delivering lasting results.
During my service as a New Hope City Councilmember and state legislator, I have built strong relationships with community leaders, law enforcement, legislators, and mayors. These partnerships are essential to effectively leading the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and advancing meaningful change.
Coalition building has been a central part of my work as an elected official. I am proud to have earned more endorsements than all of my opponents combined, including the sole endorsement of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. Our countywide coalition includes labor unions, community organizations, and a broad group of local elected leaders representing 39 different cities across Hennepin County. This coalition won't just help me win this race, but will also help me govern effectively.
What racial and socio-economic disparities in the criminal justice system have you identified, and how will you address them as county attorney?
I grew up in a low income working class community. The failed Reagan era policies of the 1980s took a devastating toll on communities like the one I called home.
I understand what it is like to lose a loved one to drug addiction, to survive gun violence, and to be stopped by police without cause. As a teenager, I was shot at simply for wearing the wrong NFL jersey on the wrong block. I understand these experiences not because I have read about them in a book or read them in a case file on my desk, but because I have lived them.
People living in communities affected by violence do not want less safety. They want more safety. They want safety that works. They want decisions to be made with them, not for them. I understand that because I have lived it, and I will bring to this office a perspective and lived experience unlike any county attorney who has served before.
The county attorney’s office decisions have profound consequences for marginalized communities. When policies only prioritize incarceration over community based diversion programs or impose severe penalties for low level or ambiguous conduct, they deepen existing racial and economic disparities. Even policies that appear “neutral”, such as mandatory minimum sentences, can worsen inequities when they fail to account for the social, historical, and economic realities that shape people's lives.
I believe in accountability for harm, including incarceration when necessary to protect public safety. At the same time, I strongly oppose mandatory minimum sentences that strip judges and prosecutors of the ability to consider individual circumstances. Criminal justice decisions should be guided by proportionality and context, not rigid formulas that leave no room for common sense or humanity.
A powerful example of the harm caused by mandatory sentencing is the 2023 case of Steven Cooper in St. Louis County. Cooper, a Black man with a prior felony conviction, discovered a firearm among the belongings of his recently deceased brother. Knowing that he was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, he wrapped the gun and contacted his parole officer because he intended to turn it in. He believed he was acting responsibly and in the interest of public safety.
Instead of being commended for doing the right thing, Cooper was arrested and charged with felony possession of a firearm, an offense carrying a mandatory prison sentence. The Duluth chapter of the NAACP, along with civil rights advocates and gun rights organizations, publicly called on the St. Louis County Attorney's Office to dismiss the charges.
This case, in which a man faced a mandatory sentence for attempting to turn a firearm over to authorities, illustrates why prosecutors and judges must have the discretion to consider context.
How can the office change practices in civil court matters to improve services to the public and address disparities?
The civil division of the county attorney’s office has traditionally focused on minimizing risk for county departments. Going forward, I believe it should also serve to protect our community and uphold justice in the face of political attacks. In an era of federal overreach and punitive actions against Minnesota and Hennepin County, our civil division must be fully engaged in defending the local interests of our residents. I will ensure that the division collaborates with counterparts in other jurisdictions across the country facing similar challenges, enabling coordinated litigation strategies and shared resources to effectively respond to these federal threats.
The Trump administration has targeted many programs that Hennepin County residents rely on every day — from health care to affordable housing to basic human services. They have made it clear that residents cannot access these longstanding programs unless the County complies with unjust immigration enforcement, persecutes our LGBTQ neighbors, and submits to their inhumane political agenda. As county attorney, I will stand up to these attacks by taking legal action when necessary and fighting to ensure that residents can access essential county services without being forced to accommodate their radical federal mandates.