Emily Koski was the Minneapolis City Council's only regular swing vote last year, dividing her support evenly between Mayor Jacob Frey's allies and his left-wing critics on the 102 closest votes — but most other council members rarely sided with Frey.

The keys to City Hall are up for grabs on Nov. 4, when all 13 City Council seats and the mayor’s office are up for election. Minneapolis has used ranked-choice voting since 2009. No primary election is held,

The debate descended into some personal attacks and became sort of a proxy war for bigger political battles at city hall.