With Moriarty bowing out as Hennepin County Attorney, the race is on for who will replace her – and how

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty came into office in 2023 with an unlikely resume, having served previously as the county’s chief public defender. The experience fueled her reform-minded campaign, but ultimately fueled her critics, too, who called her soft on criminals and oblivious to crime. In August of 2025, Moriarty said she would not seek reelection.

At a forum Thursday evening for candidates vying to take her place, “experience” became the oft-repeated word of the night as the five hopefuls tried to explain why theirs best prepared them to lead in Moriarty’s stead.

The forum, hosted in Golden Valley by the League of Women Voters Minneapolis, focused heavily on how the candidates would hold the federal government accountable for Operation Metro Surge, forecasting what’s likely to become a foundational issue of the race.

Related: How Moriarty won the race for Hennepin County Attorney

Diane Krenz cited four decades of work in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office before her retirement in 2024 and voiced one of the most critical assessments of Moriarty’s tenure.

Cedrick Frazier – who secured the DFL endorsement – touted his background as a public defender and more recently as a New Hope City Council member and state legislator. Those roles, he said, have prepared him to bring budgetary expertise to the position.

The office currently operates with a $92.2 million budget and 522 full-time equivalent employees. Beyond criminal prosecutions, it oversees victim services and crime prevention, and also houses the county’s Child Support Division.

Given that the U.S. Department of Justice has shown scant interest in charging federal employees with crimes related to Operation Metro Surge, including the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the candidates sparred over who was best set to hold federal agents accountable.

Private litigator Matt Pelikan pointed out that he left his role as a partner at Madel PA in January when the firm took on representing Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent accused of shooting and killing Renee Good.

And Hao Nguyen, a prosecutor with the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, said he’d prosecute any federal agents who broke the law. In a move to differentiate himself, though, he argued that too many people conflated ICE with all law enforcement, defending the efforts of Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt – who has endorsed him for the role.

“Federal agents hurt us,” Nguyen said, “and made us think we were hurting each other.”

Anders Folk, meanwhile, touted his former role as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, where he brought charges against Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. The same accountability would be coming for federal agents who had committed crimes, he said.

All five candidates demanded more transparency from the office, including public dashboards about the decisions of cases and stronger connections with the media and the public to make it clear how the office was serving citizens.

The candidates also took shots at what they see as misplaced priorities under Moriarty’s leadership, setting up what are likely to become campaign talking points. 

Krenz said the office had become too politicized and has abandoned effective sentencing guidelines. Pelikan raised the issue of drug use in the county, saying progressives have “turned a blind eye” to its negative impacts. And Nguyen raised concerns about the office’s liberal use of plea bargains. Folk bemoaned a lack of collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.

Frazier, who like Moriarty has experience as a public defender, tried to take the focus off of who has had the most experience prosecuting cases. The office needs to “fight back and move forward,” he said, not go back to practices used by Moriarty’s predecessors.

Even amid criticisms of Moriarty’s leadership and efforts to separate themselves from the pack, the candidates nodded to areas where Moriarty has made strides.

Krenz offered a “rare moment” of complimenting Moriarty for the use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders, restricting access to firearms for people who are a risk to themselves or others. And Pelikan commended the department’s approach to reducing rates of recidivism, or multiple arrests and repeated incarcerations.

While Election Day for the primary isn’t until August 11, early voting in Hennepin County starts on June 26.

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