A look at the mayoral elections in the inner-ring suburbs of Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park:
Brooklyn Center
Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Willson squeaked out a victory against challenger Mike Elliott, a businessman who had promised change and a higher profile for the city.
Willson won his third term by less than 2 percent of the vote. Willson successfully argued that the city's lowest crime rate in decades and a string of redevelopment successes proved he was on the right course. Elliott, who immigrated to the United States from Liberia as a child, campaigned on change.
Brooklyn Center is the state's most diverse city. More than half of its 31,000 residents are racial minorities, and 24 percent are foreign-born.
"I am looking forward to continuing the work I have already done for eight years," Willson said. "It's a long process to redevelop a city and breathe new life into it. I am happy to be able to continue to do so."
Willson, 61, entered politics in his hometown of Kasota, Minn., where he served on the City Council in the 1980s. He and his wife moved to Brooklyn Center in 1990.
Willson works for MN.IT Services, the state's IT agency, and is the chief technology officer for the state Office of Management and Budget.
He is married to state Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center. They have two children. When their 23-year-old daughter died of a heroin overdose in 2007, they became advocates for a law allowing police and firefighters to administer a heroin antidote.
