| Election Name: | 2009 Minneapolis mayoral election |
| Country: | Minneapolis |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2005 Minneapolis mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2005 |
| Next Election: | 2013 Minneapolis mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
| Candidate1: | R. T. Rybak |
| Party1: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote1: | 33,234 |
| Percentage1: | 73.60% |
| Candidate2: | Papa John Kolstad |
| Party2: | Independent (politician) |
| Popular Vote2: | 4,953 |
| Percentage2: | 10.97% |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | R. T. Rybak |
| Before Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| After Election: | R. T. Rybak |
| After Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
The 2009 Minneapolis mayoral election was held on November 3, 2009, to elect the Mayor of Minneapolis for a four-year term. Incumbent R. T. Rybak won re-election for a third term in the first round with 73.6% of the vote.
This was the first mayoral election in the city's history to use instant-runoff voting, popularly known as ranked choice voting. Voters had the option of ranking up to three candidates. Municipal elections in Minnesota are nonpartisan, although candidates were able to identify with a political party on the ballot.
| Party | Candidate | |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis DFL[1] | R. T. Rybak | |
| Fifth Congressional District Independence Party of Minnesota | Papa John Kolstad | |
| Minneapolis City Republican Committee[2] | Papa John Kolstad |
| Minneapolis mayoral election, 2009[3] [4] [5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political party/principle | Candidate | % 1st Choice | Round 1 | ||
| DFL | R. T. Rybak (incumbent) | 73.60 | 33,234 | ||
| Independent Civic Leader | Papa John Kolstad | 10.97 | 4,953 | ||
| DFL | Al Flowers | 3.98 | 1,795 | ||
| DFL | Dick Franson | 3.50 | 1,579 | ||
| Libertarian Party of Minnesota | Christopher Clark | 2.96 | 1,337 | ||
| Socialist Workers Party | Tom Fiske | 1.44 | 650 | ||
| Is Awesome | Joey Lombard | 0.98 | 444 | ||
| Social Entrepreneurship | James R. Everett | 0.79 | 357 | ||
| New Dignity Party | Bill McGaughey | 0.51 | 232 | ||
| Moderate Progressive Censored | Bob Carney Jr. | 0.50 | 228 | ||
| Edgertonite National Party | John Charles Wilson | 0.30 | 137 | ||
| N/A | Write-in | 0.47 | 211 | ||