Hodges says she’ll run for mayor if Rybak won’t

Minneapolis city council member Betsy Hodges says she's ready to run for mayor next year if current mayor RT Rybak doesn't run for a fourth term. Hodges recently filed the necessary paperwork in Hennepin County to raise money for such a campaign. The chair of the council's Ways and Means Budget committee for the last three years, Hodges says the mayor has done a good job keeping the city on sound fiscal footing. And she says her budget experience would help her continue that focus.

"The budget is the biggest piece of policy the city does," said Hodges. "It touches every part of the work the city does. And so it's given me a great insight into how the city works and the vision we could have for it moving forward."

Hodges says she doesn't want to go into detail about a possible mayoral run because Rybak hasn't made up his mind if he'll run for reelection in 2013. However, in January of this year, Rybak talked about running again after he was asked by reporters about why he didn't support a voter referendum on the Vikings stadium bill.

"We are going to have a referendum in a couple years when I stand for reelection," he said. "And I'm very comfortable walking out there for reelection and standing up and saying, 'We took one of the most complicated situations we have in Target Center, we fixed it, we delivered property tax relief and we got a billion dollars in investment in the city. I'll stand for that referendum."

Rybak has been quoted recently in media reports saying that he hasn't made up his mind yet about about a possible 2013 bid.

(MPR photo/Brandt Williams)

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