To run for city council in Minnesota, you file an affidavit of candidacy with the city clerk during a two-week filing window and pay a filing fee, $2 to $20 under state law depending on the city's size, or present a petition in place of the fee. You must be an eligible voter, at least 21 when you take office, and a resident of the ward or district for 30 days before the general election. Council candidates run without a party label, and in a statutory city council members serve four-year terms.
The first question is when your city votes. City elections default to November of the even-numbered year, so unless your city chose odd years, its next regular election is Tuesday, November 7, 2028. A city that chose odd-year elections votes on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Its candidates file from Tuesday, May 18 to Tuesday, June 1, 2027 if the city holds an August 10 primary, or from Tuesday, July 13 to Tuesday, July 27, 2027 if it does not. All of these 2027 dates are based on state law.
The rules below come from the Minnesota Statutes, so confirm anything specific to your city with the city clerk. For town, mayor and school board races, see our guide to running for local office in Minnesota.
Step 1: Find out when your city votes
Even or odd year. The city general election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the even-numbered year, unless the council passed an ordinance choosing the odd-numbered year. A city may not hold them in both (Minn. Stat. 205.07).
Primary or no primary. A city holds an August primary only if its council adopted an ordinance or resolution for one by April 15 of the election year (Minn. Stat. 205.065). For 2027, that is Thursday, April 15, 2027. Even in a primary city, a council race appears on the primary ballot only when more than twice as many candidates file as there are seats. The top candidates, two per seat, then go on to November.
The filing window. State law ties the window to the election (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 1a):
- With a primary: no more than 84 days and no fewer than 70 days before the primary. For 2027, Tuesday, May 18 to Tuesday, June 1, based on state law.
- Without a primary: no more than 112 days and no fewer than 98 days before the November election. For 2027, Tuesday, July 13 to Tuesday, July 27, based on state law.
Even-year cities use the same formulas.
The clerk's notice. The city clerk must publish the filing dates at least two weeks before filing opens (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 2).
Step 2: Learn how your council is elected
Statutory cities. Council members serve four-year terms, and the number elected each time depends on the city's plan of government and council size. For example, in an optional plan city with a council of five, there are four council members, and two are elected at each city election (Minn. Stat. 412.02).
Wards or at large. Council members may be elected citywide (at large) or from wards, if the city adopted a ward ordinance under the process in Minn. Stat. 412.02, subd. 7. If your city has wards, you run in the ward where you live.
Home rule charter cities. A city with a home rule charter sets its council's size, terms and districts in its charter, so read the charter or ask the clerk.
Before you decide, ask your city clerk how many seats are on the ballot, whether they are at large or by ward, and which ward you live in.
Step 3: Check that you qualify
Your affidavit of candidacy is a sworn statement that you meet these requirements (Minn. Stat. 204B.06):
- You are an eligible voter: at least 18, a United States citizen and a Minnesota resident for 20 days before the election, and not otherwise barred from voting (Minn. Stat. 201.014).
- You are, or will be on taking office, at least 21 years old.
- You will have lived in the ward or district for 30 days before the general election.
- You meet any other qualification for the office. In a statutory city, a council member may not also hold full-time permanent employment with the city, as defined by the city's employment policy (Minn. Stat. 412.02, subd. 1a). If you work for the city, ask the city clerk how this applies to you before you file.
- You have no other affidavit on file for the same election.
Proof of address. When you file, show a valid driver's license or state ID with your current address, or another document accepted as proof of residence for election day registration. If the addresses do not match, the clerk must not accept the affidavit (Minn. Stat. 204B.06, subd. 1b).
Step 4: File your affidavit of candidacy
- Get the form from the city clerk. It asks for the office and seat, your ballot name and how to pronounce it, a telephone number, a non-government email address (or a statement that you have none) and your home address, which you may ask to keep private on a separate form.
- File with the city clerk during your window. On the last day, the clerk's office must be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Filing earlier leaves time to fix a problem with your address documents.
- Pay the fee or present a petition. Step 5 explains both. Your name then goes on the ballot without a party designation.
- Know the withdrawal deadline. An affidavit of withdrawal is due by 5 p.m. two days after the window closes: Thursday, June 3 or Thursday, July 29, 2027, based on state law (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 6).
Step 5: Pay the fee or file a petition
The fee. State law sets these default fees (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 3), using the city classes in Minn. Stat. 410.01:
| City class (population) | Default fee | Ordinance maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth class (10,000 or fewer) | $2 | $15 |
| Second or third class (more than 10,000 to 100,000) | $5 | $40 |
| First class (more than 100,000) | $20 | $80 |
A home rule charter city that sets its fees in its charter is not bound by these limits. The fee is not refunded once you have filed (Minn. Stat. 204B.11).
The petition in place of the fee. You may present a petition with your affidavit instead of paying (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 4, and 204B.11, subd. 2). It needs the lesser of 500 signatures or 5 percent of the votes cast in the city, ward or district at the last general election at which the office was on the ballot. As an example only, if 600 votes were cast in your ward, you would need 30 signatures. Any person eligible to vote for you may sign, and the clerk must provide a sample form on request. The petition replaces only the fee. You still file the affidavit.
Large charter cities. In a city of the first class whose charter uses nominating petitions, the number is at least 500 or 2 percent of the voters at the last municipal general election, whichever is greater (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 5). Ask that city's clerk how its charter works.
Step 6: Run the council campaign
For a November 2, 2027 race, the voter dates that matter most are these, all based on state law:
- Friday, September 17, 2027: in-person absentee voting begins, 46 days before the election (Minn. Stat. 203B.081).
- Tuesday, October 12, 2027: the last day to register before election day, by 5 p.m. in person or by mail or 11:59 p.m. online. Eligible voters may also register at the polls on election day with proof of residence (Minn. Stat. 201.061).
- Tuesday, November 2, 2027: the city election. Ask your clerk for polling hours.
In a primary city, the same pattern comes earlier: absentee voting from Friday, June 25, registration until Tuesday, July 20, and the primary on Tuesday, August 10, 2027.
For a ward seat, meeting voters at their doors is a practical way to campaign. As an example only, you and two volunteers knocking on 50 doors a week each for ten weeks would reach about 1,500 doors. If volunteers help, Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app, lets you draw turf on a map, assign it, give canvassers walk lists ordered by distance and record a result at each door. An at-large seat is a citywide race, which our guide to running for mayor in Minnesota covers.
Step 7: Keep supporters informed by text
Set up texting in CampaignCNX+ before your filing window, so reminders are ready for the voter dates above.
- Settle your committee first. Campaign Verify, a check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign, needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Ask your city clerk or county auditor whether your committee's filing is posted online, and contact Campaign Verify Support before you pay if it is not. A $95 request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
- Open your account. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or as toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it.
- Add only supporters who agreed in writing. Use a sign-up sheet at doors and events that plainly says the person agrees to receive campaign texts, and record the date. In CampaignCNX+, put these supporters in a group, tag the ward or event, and record the consent date and source in a custom field. Do not add people from a voter list who never asked to hear from you.
- Schedule a reminder. Use the first-name merge field, and end the first message with the opt-out line:
Hi [First name], this is [Name], candidate for [City] Council. Absentee voting in person starts Fri, Sep 17. Reply STOP to opt out.
Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For more wording, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for texting across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.
Start with a call to the city clerk
Ask whether your city votes in 2027, whether it holds a primary, how many seats are open and what the filing fee is. Then check your address documents and decide between the fee and a petition. When you are ready to keep supporters informed by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.
