Richard M. Erdall (January 13, 1933 – July 3, 2018) was an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

. He was the 40th

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, serving for one day, on December 31, 1973; as such, he is the shortest-serving mayor of the city. Before that, he was

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for the City's 13th Ward and the president of the Minneapolis City Council. In 1965, Erdall was elected to the Minneapolis Park Board. On January 13, 1967 (his 34th birthday), he was appointed 13th Ward alderman to fill the vacancy caused by the election of John W. Johnson to the Minnesota legislature. Erdall was elected to the council in 1967 and reelected in 1969 and 1971. He was elected president of the city council on July 7, 1969, and reelected in 1971. On August 13, 1971, Erdall was ousted as president when a member of his caucus sided with the DFL to elect himself president. On January 28, 1972, Erdall was restored to the presidency, which he held until January 2, 1974. He was defeated for reelection as alderman in November 1973. The opportunity to serve as mayor arose because the incumbent mayor,

Charles Stenvig Charles A. Stenvig (January 16, 1928 – February 22, 2010) served as mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota for two two-year terms from 1969 to 1973 and a third term from 1976 to 1978. He was a police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department befo ...

, a former police inspector who had also been defeated for reelection, resigned on his final day in office to become acting Chief of Police. Erdall was a member of the Republican Party, and is to date the last Republican to serve as mayor of Minneapolis or as council president, as of . In 1976, Erdall received the Independent-Republican nomination in the contest to represent

Minnesota's 5th Congressional district Minnesota's 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts ...

, which was then represented by seven-term incumbent (and future Minneapolis mayor)

Donald M. Fraser Donald MacKay Fraser (February 20, 1924 – June 2, 2019) was an American politician from Minnesota who served as U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 5th congressional district from 1963 to 1979 and as mayor of Minneapolis from 1980 to 1994. Ea ...

. He received less than 26% of the vote, as Fraser was reelected. He was born in Minneapolis and died there on July 3, 2018, at the age of 85, survived by his children Richard, Kristen, and Susan.

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